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- [00:01]
A
Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good. You look the same. But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me. You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check please.
- [00:16]
B
New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever with eligible phone, trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed. Best 5G towards root metrics data United States 1H 2025 All Rights Reserve Trade and additional terms apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. If you're an experienced pet owner, you already know that having a pet is 25% belly rubs, 25% yelling drop it. And 50% groaning at the bill from every vet visit. Which is why Lemonade Pet insurance is tailor made for your pet and can save you up to 90% on vet bills. It can help cover checkups, emergencies, diagnostics, basically all the stuff that makes your bank account nervous. Claims are filed super easily through the Lemonade app and half get settled instantly. Get a'@lemonade.com pet and they'll help cover the vet bill for whatever your pet swallowed after you yelled drop it.
- [01:07]
A
If I waited for permission, I never.
- [01:09]
B
Would have started it. I know what I know. I can't give up. It is a study in social movements that we are experiencing right now. You know when you look back in 10 to 15 years you'll say, oh, these are the new defining leaders. I'm Suchi Srinivasan. And I'm Camila Rakimova. We are the hosts of In Her Element, a podcast by bcg. We bring you the voices of extraordinary women and their allies who are pushing business and technology forward. Listen now on Spotify. Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:41]
C
The Athletic fc. Welcome to the preview from the Athletic fc. It's the show where we get you set for the weekend's Premier League action. This week our main focus is the red card loving blues of Chelsea versus the no longer red hot Reds of Liverpool. Joining me today, it is the OG Preview pack. Hello, Stu, James.
- [02:07]
A
Good morning Matt and Megan.
- [02:09]
C
Prigga's back with us too. How you doing Megan?
- [02:10]
B
Yeah, I'm good, I'm good. How are you?
- [02:12]
C
Okay. Yeah, I mean I do support forest, but generally I'm okay, thank you. Yeah. Right. As well as Saturday's showdown, we're going to take a look over some of the other key games taking place on Matchday seven in the Premier League. But first, let's get to our feature presentation. Don't worry, listener, put your shirt on it. We'll be back later in the show, but we're going to start by talking about the game. Last time out in the Premier League, Chelsea suffered a 31 defeat at home to Brighton. They did resp in the Champions League in midweek, beating Benfica 1 nil in Jose Mourinho's testimonial. Stu, like me, you were at Stamford Bridge for the game. Aside from all the former manager fawning, what did you make of Chelsea?
- [02:50]
A
Yeah, I actually didn't think it was that good a performance, Matt, but I don't think that mattered too much. I think in the context of recent results, the back to back Premier League defeats, the fact that Chelsea had lost their first Champions League game against Bayern Munich and that Mourinho was back in town, it would have been a bit humiliating for Maresca if Benfica under Mourinho had got a result against them. So I think all that mattered was they managed to win. I do think Benfica, this isn't a great Benfica team by any stretch and I think if they'd have had a bit more conviction in attack, they could have well have got a result at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. Positives from Chelsea's point of view. I thought Garnacho and Cucurella linked nicely on the left, thought Cucurella was making some really good underlapping runs and there was like quite quickly a natural understanding with Garnacho. But we can't avoid the obvious. There was no threat through the middle up top. And I'm sure we'll come on to talk about that in a bit about Tyrick George, but that was, that was absolutely glaring. And you know Mourinho's presence on the touchline there, Matt, he was in the dugout. That used to be his dugout. Right. They've swapped them over at Chelsea and I couldn't help just looking in there, watching the game and think, and these comparisons aren't really helpful to Chelsea fans, but think about that Chelsea team he had at one time and compare it with what was on the pitch then. And I'm thinking you to Chet Drogba, Lampard, Essien Carvalho, Terry Cole. Chelsea are miles away from that now, miles away. So yes, it was a win and that's what they needed to do. But in terms of the wider performance, there was nothing there that made me come away with any real great encouragement that Chelsea are on a good path at this moment in time.
- [04:26]
C
And what about their manager, Megan because this game on Saturday feels like quite a big game for Enzo Maresca. All of a sudden, three without a win in the league. And. And it's always tricky, isn't it, going into an international, the back of a bad result. So he could do with something positive here.
- [04:40]
B
Yeah. And I feel like of all the games to have to go into an international break against going against the reigning champions, I know there's, you know, they've. They've had a little bit of a wobble, too, but it's not exactly a nice fixture to have to. To go into and. And have. For your barometer of. Okay, do you sack this manager? Do you stick with him? But, I mean, it's Chelsea, and I think when you start to have this kind of streak, you are going to be under pressure. He's even said it. I don't think he's really helped. Like, the red cards are ridiculous. He had that quote, which kind of makes me laugh. I like the idea of like a club PR person running up to him before he goes to his press conference, being like, you need to use the stat. But he said, the club showed me the stats and the last six months we lost five games, four of them with a red card. And, like, so you can't really avoid that. Like, there is a slight caveat there. That's a problem. I think Kukurea even said the way that they're kind of pressing means that they're pushing players up, and it means that you're sort of sometimes leaving a player one on one, and they're having to be in a situation where they shouldn't be in. But, I mean, that also comes down to Maresca. Be a little more pragmatic there. If this is starting to be a theme. And let, like Stu had said, you know, the lack of threat is. Is glaring. And this is a team that spent, what, like a billion pounds over the last three years, and you still look at that squad and you're thinking about the past. I think Maresca is under some serious pressure, and if they lose and it's a poor performance, then I. I think there has to be a conversation. I don't think you need to, like, you know, do anything too drastic. But if it's a really good performance and they still maybe don't get the result, I think that's the more important aspect here rather than the result. Because like Stu said against Benfica, you got a result, but it still didn't necess look entirely convincing.
- [06:11]
C
Let's talk more about that lack of goal threat then Stu Tyreek, George Evil Sacker, as Tosin calls him. Chelsea wanted to sell him to Fulham on deadline day. That fell through. He ends up playing up front against Benfica, as we've seen before. Totally peripheral. I'm interested to know what the thinking was there from Maresca. And it kind of holds a mirror up to the decision to let Nicholas Jackson go to Bayern Munich. Right. Which might have been precipitated by the fact that he kept getting sent off. It's all come full circle.
- [06:40]
A
Yeah. As Megan said, it's just a bizarre situation. They've signed so many players over the recent years, they spent so much money and here they are now playing a young winger as a center forward. Just bizarre. I actually felt sorry for him on Tuesday night. He looked what he is, a wide attacker playing out of position and he. He didn't even really play as a nine, I didn't think. He sort of kept straying into that area where he's more comfortable out wide. He had 15 touches. His first touch in the Benfica penalty area was in the 45th minute. And that kind of says everything, really. I mean, some people will say this is unlucky because Delaps got injured. I don't see it as unlucky at all. I just see it as really poor planning on Chelsea's part. I don't understand how you can go into a season when you're competing on multiple fronts and you've just come off the back of a Club World cup, which was going to put a huge strain on the squad anyway, with only two recognised centre forwards. Letting Jackson go now does look like, you know, an error of judgment. It was obviously difficult because Jackson wanted to go, he didn't want to be third choice and clearly Maresca had lost faith in him. There was two red cards, one at Newcastle, one in the Club World cup. Back to back almost. It sort of led to this kind of mistrust about you can't, you can't rely on him in games. But if they were going to let him go like they did, they had to bring a replacement in. Obviously they didn't do that. It's not even like Joe Pedro's a number nine. He's not really. He's kind of like a hybrid nine, 10. So you're almost going all in on the lap and the lap's not got loads of experience at Premier League level. Of course there's. There's one other player in this which is Mark Gu. Right. Which is just a bizarre situation. So 19 year old who's gone to Sunderland on loan. Great. Go to Sunderland, get some experience under your belt in the Premier League. And then a few weeks later, actually, can you come back? We need you again. Actually, we don't really need you because of course if Chelsea play him, he will have played for two clubs this season and that's the maximum you can play for. Whereas really Chelsea would like him to go out on loan again in January. So why bring him back? And the only reason you can think they bring him back is if something happens to Pedro as well and they have a complete crisis up top and then maybe he comes into the reckoning. But it's just a mess really. It's a real mess. You know, Joe, Pedro wasn't fully fit to start the other night, then he comes on and gets sent off. It's a bit of a perfect storm. But I think ultimately it reflects badly on their lack of strategy around recruitment in the summer.
- [09:03]
C
Yeah, really feel for poor Mark Guillaume. We mentioned this on Straight Outcome, the Athletics Chelsea podcast in the week. There's a 17 year old striker in the Chelsea Academy called Shin Mayuka who's already got 10 go season. He scored a hat trick against Benfica in the youth league on Tuesday. Had a little cameo against Lincoln in the League cup. But I genuinely think he would be a better option than Tyreek George. Let's move on to Liverpool, Megan, shall we? Because they're finished. Harness Lots assumed the mantle as the Premier League's resident bald fraud. Virgil Van Dijk and Mo Salah done at the top level. I'm being reactionary, of course. We've become accustomed to them scoring injury time winners, haven't we? But Crystal palace flipped the script on the Champions. It's been a bad week for them. We're asking on the show whether all these late goals and late shows were sustainable. I guess we've had the answer. They're not.
- [09:48]
B
Yeah. I mean this is always the way the narrative works though. When they're winning it's like, oh, it's a sign of a winning team. And now that they've lost, it's like, well, it wasn't sustainable, was it? Shoulda, should have, should have seen that one coming. I was in Greece for the last couple weeks and I was getting off the train to Liverpool this week and like three of the people on my train were telling me that they needed a sack slot and that Liverpool were gonna like not win any trophies this season. So it always makes me laugh sort of the reactions that people have. Just feels like one loss means everyone's jumping off A cliff. Instead of just thinking like maybe we have a parachute, maybe we should chill out for a little bit. And since the Bournemouth game, the Bournemouth game pretty much told you what the next couple weeks were going to be. Scoring in the 88th minute and then getting an injury time winner. And that has pretty much set the tone for this entire season. And unfortunately it isn't sustainable. You can't do this in palace too. Like palace kind of have. I don't want to say they have Liverpool's number but that they know how to win here. You know, they beat him in the community shield, albeit on penalties. But I think Glassner deserves a lot of credit for knowing how to soak up that pressure. He's got them doing some amazing stuff this season and they hit him on the counter, which is exactly what we were saying against Bournemouth. That Liverpool looked so feeble and so fragile on the transition and Glassner played to play to that strength. So yeah, I think there's. There's repeated sort of issues with this Liverpool squad, especially at fullback. Their midfield looks just really, really we. Which is incredible considering that last season the midfield was so great. Szabaszlai obviously playing at right back, he looks good. But then, you know, I think it hampers the midfield a lot. So all of that is to say you can rely on late goals only for so long and I think that's papered over some, some pretty big cracks that slot really hasn't addressed in the last six weeks.
- [11:28]
C
So they're losing the Champions League as well in midweek. Stu. Are they trying to change too much too soon in, in terms of personnel and maybe playing style as well? Is that what we're seeing here? Some teething problem that possibly.
- [11:40]
A
I mean there's a lot of new signings you've come in, isn't there? And I know some people won't like to hear this because they'll say, well they're elite players, they should be able to adapt instantly. But I think particularly for the players who are not just coming to a new team but are coming to a new country, I do think that there's a transition there that won't be straightforward. And we're seeing that. Some of the other things have surprised me. Kirk has really liked him at Bournemouth, thought he was excellent left back, thought he was an obvious signing. He struggled. But then I also think I look at slot and you've got Andy Robertson there. Bring him into the team. Robertson's played very little this season. Kirk has had a difficult start. Take him out and let Robertson, you know, come in and give the defense a little bit of stability again because, you know, it's not just the new signings who have struggled. Some of the existing players too. If you look at Kanate, Kanate's form's been really poor and, you know, gone back to that Bournemouth game. Mega mentioned he was all over the place then and that that's been kind of symptomatic of how he's been. There is a solution there in terms of playing Joe Gomez and bringing him in and wouldn't surprise me if that happened on the weekend. Some of the other players too. Salah is an obvious one. You know, he's. He's not looked the same this season. Gak Pos been poor. And what Megan talks about with the midfield, I mean, there was this big thing about how Svoslai is, you know, such a brilliant, versatile player, how well he's done it right back. But spot on the midfield doesn't look right. The balance of that now and that's been changed to try and accommodate Verts as well. Vertz is an interesting one. I mean, he's obviously an absolutely top talent. I thought Mark Kerry made a really interesting point earlier in the week, our senior data analyst, and he was talking about if you watch the palace game back, how Verts is getting in some really good positions in between the lines and Liverpool players aren't kind of seeing that quickly enough or finding him. This isn't trying to sugarcoat the fact that Virt has been poor. He has been disappointing. But I think what that kind of little example shows is it's not just a new player adapting to the team and the league, it's his teammates adapting to him as well. So it's interesting. And then we've got lastly, you know, Isaac, right, who had no pre season, really, which is down to him, you know, it's hard to feel too much sympathy there. So he's playing catch up as well. And you know, you've got Ekatike celebrating a goal against the Lampton in the Caribou cup, as if he scored in the Champions League final against Real Madrid and he gets himself suspended. So, yeah, a bit of a mess of that. But yeah, coming back to what Megan said, I always think like that cliche when people say, oh, it's a really good sign when the team's playing badly and winning. Not if you keep doing that again and again, I don't think. I just look at that and think that's not sustainable, you know, performance. At some point you have to be delivering that consistently. So yeah, these results now against Galatasara and Palace, in a way they were probably coming.
- [14:19]
B
Yeah. I think if you look at it too, three of the four games when they didn't score late winners, they lost those games. So the only game that they've won where they didn't need a late winner was Everton. That's. That's it. Which my. Obviously my Everton friends aren't going to like me saying that out loud, but I mean that's clearly. That is not the sort of modus operandi of a sustainable way of winning.
- [14:41]
C
Yeah. And Everton anfield's always their gimme in this season anyway, isn't it? We'll talk more about the game shortly but it is time for put your shirt on it. It's where I pick one of my extensive collection of retro or current football shirts. It's related to the game that we're talking about. I want to know which player specifically wore this shirt. And this is one of the rare occasions where the player in question's name is emblazoned upon the back of it. It is the Chelsea away shirt from 2016 17. It's a sort of black and charcoal gray striped number with luminous yellow piping down the side and Yokohama tires as the sponsor. Here's your first clue, guys. I scored seven goals in 18 games against Liverpool, the first of which came in a Europa League last 16 tie in March 2010.
- [15:28]
B
Stu, I'm gonna let you go first.
- [15:29]
A
I don't know. I don't know where to start with that, Matt.
- [15:32]
C
Good, good.
- [15:34]
B
I've got nothing. My record in this game is so poor. I got nothing.
- [15:39]
C
What I really don't want you to do is get it on clue one because then that absolutely kills the feature stone dead. So if you're not even gonna have a guess, then that is absolutely perfect for me and I'm gonna hurry it along so that you don't get it right.
- [15:50]
B
Next.
- [15:50]
C
Today we're gonna look into selection headaches and where each side's gonna hurt each other. As in with the football, not by saying mean things.
- [16:02]
A
Dude, did you order the new iPhone 17 Pro? Got it from Verizon, the best 5G network in America. I never looked so good. You look the same. But with this camera, everything looks better. Especially me. You haven't changed your hair in 15 years. Selfies check please.
- [16:17]
B
New and existing customers can get the new iPhone 17 Pro. Designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever, with eligible phone trade in and unlimited ultimate any condition guaranteed best 5G swears route metrics data United States 1H 2025 all rights reserve. Trade in an additional terms Apply for all offers. See verizon.com for details. Bombas makes the most comfortable socks, underwear and T shirts.
- [16:35]
C
Warning.
- [16:35]
A
Bombas are so absurdly comfortable, you may throw out all your other clothes.
- [16:39]
B
Sorry, do we legally have to say that?
- [16:41]
A
No, this is just how I talk. And I really love my Bombas.
- [16:44]
B
They do feel that good. And they do good, too. One item purchased equals one item donated. To feel good and do good, go to bombas.com and use code audio for 20% off your first first purchase. That's B O-M B-S.com and use code audio at checkout.
- [16:57]
A
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- [17:38]
C
Okay, let's have clue two before we get into that and see if anybody can get it right. Only two of my seven goals against Liverpool came at Stamford Bridge.
- [17:48]
A
This is 2016. 17. Do you say, Matt?
- [17:50]
C
Yeah. That's when this specific shirt was. Yes, he played for Chelsea for a considerable amount longer than that bonus clue. He's my favorite ever footballer that I've seen live.
- [18:01]
A
Megan and I need one on Swansea.
- [18:04]
C
We did have Swansea a couple of weeks ago. Neither of you were on the show.
- [18:07]
B
This is going to be a stupid guess, but I think he played in this season and he's. I like. I liked watching him live.
- [18:14]
C
Eden Hazard is absolutely correct.
- [18:17]
A
Megan, well done.
- [18:19]
C
No way.
- [18:20]
B
Look at that. Oh, okay. Never ask me on this show again because I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die at a peak. That's it. I'm done. I'm retiring.
- [18:29]
A
Tremendous. Well done you.
- [18:30]
C
That first clue, by the way, scored in Europa League last 16 tie. That was for Lille. All the rest of his goals against Liverpool were for Chelsea. Of course, some absolute. I mean, just put in Eden Hazard goal at Anfield and you'll have some fun for a couple of minutes at least. Let's get back to 2025. Listen, he went off Injured in midweek. Arnaz Lots confirmed he's not going to play at Stamford Bridge this weekend. It's a massive blow, isn't it, Megan? Because he's actually been one of their better, if not their best player this season. Do you know much about Georgi Mamadashville who's going to come in? He has played in the cup, came off the bench in midweek, but big test for him.
- [19:07]
B
Yeah, I have not seen that much of him. I remember him playing, if I'm right, at the Euros for Georgia, which was probably one of my favorite teams that I got to watch at the Euros last summer. They were phenomenal. But I do remember him pulling off some really, really great saves. But I was reading one of the pieces on the Athletic and I think it's Greg Evans who wrote this piece. But it was about how Allison was actually instrumental in helping recruit him to come to Liverpool and stuff. So in that sense, if Allison is trustworthy enough and believes in what he can do, then that's really great. But Greg Evans profile of him said a lot of really great things. Obviously he's still young, he has some mistakes in him. I think the piece even starts off describing mistake he made back at his former club and then he didn't end up playing for five months because of the mistake. So it's a really big opportunity for him. But this is how you get into maybe making yourself the number one or making a. Making a case for you to be that. And that's why he was recruited, was to possibly replace Allison at some point. So it's a big ask. But equally we're just talking about how Chelsea haven't had any goal threat in the last couple of weeks. So maybe this is the perfect game to get stuck into.
- [20:10]
C
Yeah, that's what I was going to say, Stu. It's actually not a bad game for him to come into, I guess, is it? No Cole Palmer for Chelsea, no Leah, Liam Delap either. Who's going to be the difference maker for Maresca's team then? Is it going to be Estebao? There's a nice little cameo from him against Benfica in midweek. Neto works really hard. Has he got the goal threat? Certainly not Jamie Gittins. Awful cameo from him. It's a problem area for Chelsea despite the fact they spent so much money on these players.
- [20:36]
A
It is indeed. Yeah. Esteban, obviously you were there, Matt. Like the ground erupted, didn't it, a couple of times on Tuesday night.
- [20:43]
B
Right.
- [20:43]
A
There was that moment when he pulled the ball down out the sky, which was a fantastic first touch. And also then when he set off on that dribble from the edge of his own penalty area and he just danced around three, four, five Benfica players. He's clearly hugely talented. I think the thing with him, it sounds really cliche, but it is. It's like what happens at the end of that. So sometimes, you know, he goes off on these fantastic runs, but does he then have the awareness of teammates? Can he make the right decisions? You've been just been talking about Eden Hazard. You know, that was. He was amazing at that. Right. He seemed to always know the right thing to do in that moment. So look, he's a young player, he's clearly hugely talented. All of that will take time. I think in terms of the refs elsewhere, it just feels a little bit weak. Jao Pedro started like a house on fire at Chelsea. I think he's gone five games without scoring now. Obviously the red card the other night, which might have been a little bit harsh, but he needs to get back to form. They badly need him fit and firing on Sunday. But weirdly, and I guess this probably says everything, if you said who's the most likely scorer for Chelsea on Sunday, I'd probably say Enzo Fernandez, which is kind of where they're at at this moment in time, really. You know, his numbers are pretty impressive across a period of time, not just this season. But yeah, they're badly missing Palmer and obviously, you know, the. The striker situation is far from ideal.
- [21:56]
C
So Chelsea have issues creating chances and scoring goals. Stu, you touched on the lack of balance in Liverpool's midfield. Do you think that's affecting Mo Salah's lack of output this season?
- [22:06]
A
Yeah, I don't know. It is just midfield, but I feel as a Liverpool fan made to mine who watches them everywhere, and he was at the Bournemouth game and he kind of called it straight away then and he said Salah just doesn't look right. He said he scored, didn't he, later on that night. But he had a poor game. And then there was a Burnley match where he was really off it too. And I don't know, I guess the thing with Salah is this him just being out of form for a bit and a blip or is it the sign of something deeper? Or as you've said there, is it related to all the changes going on within this Liverpool team at this moment in time? But he's been so incredible for so long. It feels like, you know, we deserve to cut the guy a little bit of slack in and not try and read a lot into a little at this moment in time, you know, he's fully capable of coming back and going on a run of scoring, you know, six, seven games on the spin. So I actually look at that Liverpool team and think, come on, there's a lot of attacking power there. Those guys have got to take that burden away from him and take some responsibility. For too long it's been too much on Salah's shoulders. So it's for others to step up, I think. Be interesting what he does Sunday. If you're going to play Verts, I'd play him. I play him off the left, go really strong in center midfield, you know, be up against Fernandez, Casado, try and have some kind of dominance in there. And I think that looks like Svostlai moving back in there and probably playing with a team that looks a bit more like last season.
- [23:24]
C
All right, give me a prediction then Megan, what's the score going to be?
- [23:26]
B
1 nil to Liverpool and it's going to be a late goal because they're just going to do it again.
- [23:31]
C
And will Chelsea finish with 11 players? What do you reckon G to the.
- [23:34]
A
11 players or the scoreline? 11 players? Probably not. Scoreline. I'm going to go 21 Liverpool, which for me I sound a bit harsh on Chelsea here but says it's more about where Chelsea are than where Liverpool are at this moment in time. Really.
- [23:47]
C
All right, we shall see. 5:30 Saturday for that one. Next we are going to have a look at some of the other action taking place on match day seven.
- [23:55]
A
This is the Athletic FC podcast proudly sponsored by Betfair.
- [23:59]
C
Well, this is the part of the show where with the help of our partners Betfair, we show you how you can play in a different league this season. Alex Boyes is with me to look ahead to Chelsea against Liverpool. It's a huge game this one, isn't it Alex? I mean implications on the title race but maybe only for one of the two teams involved.
- [24:18]
D
Hey? Yeah, look, I think you could argue this is probably being Alistair's most turbulent week as Liverpool manager. And whilst that probably echoes the amazing job that he's done and it's not a crisis situation, it's certainly the first time he's had to answer those serious questions. And if you look to those title odds on the Betfair sportsbook, they've now lost their favorites tag. Despite sitting top of the league, they're now seven to to retain the title behind Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. You know that Huge late win at St James's park last week moved the Gunners to the top of the market at six to five. So whilst they sit two points behind Liverpool, it just shows how highly this Arsenal team is rated by the market.
- [24:56]
C
All right, well, what about the game at Stamford Bridge Saturday? Tee time then? What are the match odds looking like for that?
- [25:01]
D
Yeah, I think in fairness, if we talk about Liverpool's issues, then what about Chelsea's? Because the noise has really picked up there as well amongst the fans in the last few weeks. Not all is well. Well, with Enzo Maresque's side. And I think it's the performances and the decisions more than the points on the board, which I think is a real issue, especially for the fans. His Chelsea side for this one, they're outsiders, probably no surprise there at 17:10 on the Betfair sportsbook, but they are unbeaten in four games at Stamford Bridge against Liverpool, who are the 6 to 5 favorites. But they're looking to avoid back to back league defeats, of course, for the first time since April 2023. So it's in the balance. This one for me. I won't want to it call.
- [25:37]
C
All right, I know you're gonna have a bet builder for me and I'm gonna go ahead and guess, Alex, that cards feature prominently in this given that it's a Chelsea match.
- [25:44]
D
You are a mind reader, but of course you are because this is a real problem for them. You know, three red cards in the last four games. And I think the problem is if you go back to the start of last season, Matt, Chelsea have received more cards than any other Premier League team. So this, this isn't just a current problem, this has been a problem under Maresca. So when we look to the bet builder markets on the Betfair Sportsbook, Chelsea to earn the most cards. Pads is priced at 6 to 5, which I think is a great foundation to build on. And then I'd like to mention Enzo Fernandez, who is Chelsea's top scorer this season. He's got more goal involvements in 2025 than any other team mate. We all know Cole Palmer's sort of drop off goes back to last season. And the added bonus for punters is that with Palmer out, Enzo will be on penalties. So adding an Enzo to score against the Liverpool side with no clean sheet in five takes us to near eight to one odds. And then the final leg for me is back in Ibrahimate to be shown a card. His troubles have been well documented this season. I think he's now committed at least one Foul in seven of nine. He's managed two fouls in three of those and he's already got three yellows this season, including the community shield. I mean, who gets booked in a community Shield? Matt? That shows the sort of problems he is having. I think Joao Pedro himself could really pick up those spaces between the lines and cause him all sorts of issues at the weekend. So that takes the bet builder up to 45 to 1. So it's a big price this week.
- [27:02]
B
Week.
- [27:02]
D
But remember, with Betfair safe sub now live, it means if your player is subbed off, your bet is not over yet. So this means on selected markets, our bet rolls onto the player coming on to keep our bet live to the end. So I'm really excited about this one.
- [27:15]
C
All right. I like the look of that too. Enzo Fernandez scored when the teams met at the bridge in May as well. Alex, enjoy the football this weekend. We'll catch up with you again soon.
- [27:24]
A
This is the Athletic FC podcast, proudly sponsored by Betfair.
- [27:28]
C
So, after Liverpool suffered their first defeat of the season, Arsenal beat Newcastle in Las Gasp fashion. Meaning the gap between the two teams now stands at two points. I mean, it's a massive moment that Gabriel Goldmegan, isn't it? It could prove to be a huge one at the end of the season. I guess the other thing it does is change this narrative that we've been peddling all season, that Mikel Arteta can't get it done in the big games away from home.
- [27:52]
B
Yeah, I think this was. I think a lot of people expected them to slip up against Newcastle, especially at St James's park, but I know we're going to talk about it being a kind of a late goal and salvaged and whatever, but I thought Arsenal deserved to win this. I don't think they were bullied in any sort of fashion at St. James Park. And on the balance of play, I think they absolutely deserved it. Ironically, they end up scoring two goals from set pieces because that's just what Arsenal do at this point and no one seems to be able to stop them from doing it. But I thought from open play this was a really good performance from Arsenal. It wasn't just they score two set pieces and let's move on. I think they look really great. And then you saw that in midweek too. It was Olympiacos. Actually. On my way back from Greece, I had all the Olympiacos fans who were on my plane into London and when we landed, they all started chanting Olympiacos just in case we didn't know who they were fans of. But I thought Arsenal looked fantastic again there too. And. And they're playing with a lot of fluidity and a lot of fun. Yes, maybe the goals aren't necessarily coming but in the same way that we were saying with Liverpool it wasn't sustainable. They relying on these big moments and sometimes they're not going to happen. It feels like with Arsenal that it's going to click at some point and these goals are going to start going in because it feels like there is that underlying performance. At least just in the last week or so it's felt that way. I've been really impressed with that Gabriel goal. I think it's going to be huge because that is exactly the kind of game you don't expect Arsenal to win last season or the season before and instead they've obviously pulled it out this time.
- [29:18]
C
Here's a little peek behind the preview curtain for you. Listener producer Jay is an Arsenal fan who is at St. James's park and he has written this question which I'm going to put to you, Stu. How impressed were you with Arsenal's performance at St. James's Park? He is begging for you to pour some love on his beloved Gunners.
- [29:34]
A
Well, I've seen a fair bit of Arsenal lately. I was at the Man City game the Sunday before last and then I was at Port Bell actually for that one, which was obviously an entirely different sort of assignment. But yeah, I thought they were great at Newcastle. It just felt like a. A very different approach from Arteta and I guess the team selection was a part of that too. Especially compared with the Man City game where Eze started instead of Marino and they're on the front foot. They took the game to Newcastle. They created lots of chances. Trossard at the post E had a couple of good moments when he was denied by Pope and they deserve to be in front. Then they had the penalty which they awarded and then was taken away and then they go and do something really stupid at the other end. Completely against the runner play, concede a corner unnecessarily. Gabrielle uncharacteristically, is really weak and you think, oh, how are Arsenal going to respond to this? Because how they're going to respond on Twitter or X as it is now at that time is like the world's against us. You know, there's this huge conspiracy and Var and all the rest. But actually Arteta's players didn't let that affect them and that's what really impressed me. They. They just kept playing with a calmness and passing the ball control of the game. And they were kind of relentless in chipping away at Newcastle and that that equalizer was coming. It was interesting when they got that because then, you know, Gary Neville made that comment at that point. The teams that are going to win the title don't just stop there. They go on and win this game. And I kind of thought Neville was saying that. I don't know. Only he knows. Was questioning whether Arsenal had the ability to go and do that at that time. And clearly they did. And even then they were just probing. Odegaard played a lovely ball inside. I remember for Miles Lewis, Scally, it wasn't just getting balls into the box. And I think that led to the corner and another corner which led to the goal. So, yeah, really, really impressed with all that. I think the other big thing here, Matt, is you look at the substitutions that Arteta made. The depth he's got in that squad is incredible. There's nobody in the league who can touch them for that. I'm not talking about 17, 18, there's like 22, 23. Really. If Arteta picked his best 11 and you were left with the other 11, I honestly believe that team would finish top 10 in the premier League. You know, Art did a piece a little while ago, our Arsenal correspondent showing a graphic with them. He actually, in the second team, he had Trossard Slash Havertz up front. You know, we've just been talking about Chelsea playing a kid in his wrong position up front and, you know, Arsenal have got those kind of options. So I do think it's all there for Arsenal. I'm not saying they're going to win it, but I think they've got a great chance, a better chance than they've had certainly in any previous years under Arteta. But that was a big win.
- [31:58]
C
On the other side of the ledger, West Ham Tuesday's episode of FC discussed why they've swapped Graham Potter for Nuno Espirito Santo. Nuno took charge of his first game on Monday. And maybe a sign, Megan, that it's not going to be as straightforward for Mikel Arteta. I know West Ham did win at the Emirates last season, but you would imagine that Nuno spent quite a lot of this week trying to get his team to learn how to defend corners.
- [32:22]
B
Yeah, I hope so. And his record with Forest was pretty good. I know we'll get on to Forest, probably under Ange, who's not as great is defending set pieces or free kicks or corners. But under Nuno Forest, we're actually quite good at doing that. So that's probably something he has been working on. But I think the thing that impressed me most with with West Ham and people could put this down to a managerial bounce or new manager bounce or whatever it is, but they just didn't self destruct after going a goal down. Which is exactly what you sort of associate West Ham underground Potter of doing. They go a goal down. I think I've got to hear Russian Thomas had it in his piece. In the 2024, 25 season, West Ham ranked third lowest for points gained from losing positions. And this season they conc first across five of their seven games. So it's just, yeah, like you concede first and you lose and this time they didn't. They actually sort of bounced back against Everton and I think on the balance of play, 100% they deserved a point. They probably could have gone and won it. I think Everton also probably have to look at themselves because that second, second half was atrocious and West Ham too were just using pace in behind and Everton's defense is just this sort of laborious, lethargic, syrupy thing. And the there wingers were just having loads of. Loads of fun. Somerville looked like he was just having the time of his life down the left. So I think that all comes into it too. I don't think Arsenal's backline is as slow as Everton's which is something that Nuna is going to have to have to look at. But I was impressed in terms of a first performance. It's nice to have a point because I think that's all grand. Potter was averaging at West Ham was just a point per game. So Nuno's already matched that, which I guess is a positive.
- [33:55]
C
Yeah. Victor Yokerez. Stu. He probably would have loved to have a go at Graham Potter's. West Ham might be a bit more difficult for him now Nuno's in charge. You wrote an excellent piece on what he's doing right wrong. And how Arsenal can help him. Is this the kind of game that you would expect him to make? Hayen?
- [34:11]
A
I don't know, Matt. I'm. I don't mind saying this. I'm baffled by him. I think he's such an unusual player. He's definitely not a typical Arsenal player. I don't think he's that refined in his technical work. He's not that clean in his actions. Yet there's still something about him that makes me think he could be of huge value to Arsenal. And I say that in the sense that he. How he occupies defenders. He must be a nightmare to play against. He's so physical. And some of those actions, they might not be really tidy, but I could see them creating space for the more refined Arsenal players and him being really useful in that kind of way. I don't want to describe him as a battering ram, but I think you probably know what I'm trying to. Trying to get at. There are also signs in that Olympiacos game, I thought of the way Odegaard could link with him nicely, because I think before that, certainly in that City game, you thought, where's the creativity coming from? Centrally, it was really sort of the flanks, Trossard, Madwaque, where Yakores was going to get a chance. But actually Odegaard threading that ball through was, you know, really interesting. And actually, I mean, Martinelli, right, tried as hard as he could not to score, didn't he? I think there's this kind of collective desire from Arsenal players. They know there's pressure on you, Corres. They want him to get off the mark in the Champions League for them and to get goals more generally. So he sort of waited and waited for it to come off the post before tapping in. It's interesting, when I was at that City game the other week, and I won't name my colleague from the Athletic, because they might not want to share the view in the same way that I'm going to now, but we were talking about your careers and I don't think he's that quick. I think he's a really powerful runner, but I don't think he's fast. And if, for example, you look at the goal that Rasmus Hojlund scored in the week for Napoli, his first goal, when he really goes away from the sport in Lisbon players, I don't know that your chorus has got the capacity to do that. It's more of a kind of like he showed hustling, bustling, powerful running style. So, yeah, interesting, all of that. In terms of West Ham ham, I guess the thing with Nuno is he's more likely to set them up in kind of a low block and then that means there isn't the same space for your chores to go in behind, which he likes. So, yeah, it would be intriguing how. How all of that pans out. I've kept him in my fantasy football team, so that tells you I think he's going to do all right on Saturday, Matt.
- [36:24]
C
All right. And I've got rid of him in mind, but I'm rubbish at it, so that's probably going to help him out as well.
- [36:34]
A
Morning Zoe. Got donuts.
- [36:36]
B
Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?
- [36:39]
A
Well I dig the mattress and I.
- [36:41]
C
Want to be in a T Mobile commercial like you teach me.
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B
So Dana oh no, I'm not really prepared. I couldn't possibly at t mobile get the new iPhone 17 Pro on them. It's designed to be the most powerful iPhone yet and has the ultimate pro camera set system.
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A
Wow, impressive. Let me try. T Mobile is the best place to get iPhone 17 Pro because they've got the best network.
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B
Nice. Jeffrey, you heard them.
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A
T Mobile is the best place to.
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C
Get the new iPhone 17 Pro on us with eligible traded in any condition.
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A
So what are we having for lunch?
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B
Dude, my work here is done.
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A
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B
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- [38:38]
A
This is the Athletic FC podcast proudly sponsored by Betfair.
- [38:42]
C
Let's move on to Manchester United again against Sunderland. They lost 31 to Brentford last time out. United Reuben Amarim still yet to win back to back Premier League games as their manager. It's 11 months since he was appointed. Megan, how are your dad and brother and has your mum got Any yoga mantras left that she can help them with?
- [39:02]
B
Well, she's, she's in our group chat now because I said that we need a little bit of positivity in our football group chat because my brother just sent in like a sad face and then my dad just did like the dad thumbs up emoji again. I wasn't watching any footballs in Greece but I sort of knew what that meant. I was like, oh yeah, Manchester United have lost. So I added my mom in and she just said that all good things come to those who wait. You just need to breathe. I was like, I don't, I don't know about that. We've waited a long time. Like there's a boy who's got like hair growing everywhere on his body at this point. I don't know how much longer we can wait. It's crazy though because going into this match a lot of people were like, oh man, just United might win back to back Premier League games and it's, it's mad that we're celebrating that as, as an achievement like that is truly mental. And, and maybe that is just where we at with Manchester United. You know, losing 3:1 to Brenford is, is this just where United are? They're just a mid table team that might be able to do something against Chelsea because Chelsea self destruct and, and go get a red card and then you know, really good Brenford side turn them over. There was things that happened there too. They managed to get. Then Chesco finally broke his duck and, and got a goal. But then for an hour you have the opportunity to go and win that game and they produced absolutely nothing of note. I tried to go watch the highlights and I was like there's nothing here. There's. It's disappointing. And, and you know, people can talk about how the fact that Brentford probably should someone sends off for the, the red card or non red card. It was just a bizarre sort of intervention from Var. But then Bruno Fernandez goes and misses the penalty and yes, you wait four minutes to go take a penalty but I mean you should still put the penalty away. It's just comical. It feels like we repeat this conversation every single week with Manchester United and I truly don't know how much longer Amram has but at the same time if you get rid of am, it looks so bad. PR wise but then you're already in such a terrible place. PR wise. Is there more to go? Which then you've got Nick McCarthy going, it can get worse. So I don't know Like, I don't know. I feel like I'm rambling here. I just. I just feel bad for my dad and my brother, man. I just feel really bad for them.
- [40:59]
C
He's on his way out.
- [41:00]
A
He's on his way out. He is. He is. We're talking Amren, not Megan's brother or dad here, aren't we? Just to be clear. But no, just picking up what Megan said there. It is mad, you know, for those of us who kind of who remember that period of total Manchester United dominance, and here we are sort of saying, wow, like me, and just said, they might. They might win games back to back in the Premier League.
- [41:21]
C
It's so hard not to say, this is Manchester United football club, isn't it? I'm desperately trying to avoid that.
- [41:26]
A
But you know what? It's. It's weird, right? When I was last week writing about Arsenal win at Newcastle and I mean this genuinely, Matt, I'm not being kind of glib or silly here about this, but I was looking at their fixtures and thought, yeah, okay, they've been away to Newcastle. They've been away to Liverpool. They've been away to Man United. Man United. Do we actually. Genuine. Do we classify that as a hard game now? On what. On what basis? This run of form they've been on has been so bad for so long. The only reason you're saying playing Man United is tough is historical. It has nothing to do with how United are playing now. So, yeah, we're at that point now where you hear, see the result. Oh, Brentford beat United 3 1. It's not surprising. And I think, you know, you look at the players, they look so dejected, so flat, their body language. You look at Aaron, he looks like that, too. You know, this is a guy who couldn't watch a penalty shootout at Grimsby. You know, there was footage of in the weekend, just sort of staring down at the floor, really. And if he hasn't lost faith in his system, which is what he says, it looks like he's lost faith in the players. And it looks like they've. They've all. They're at the point of kind of no returning away with this. There's a headline on Oli K's piece. Last week, he was at the Brentford game, and I thought it summed it up, how much more misery can Manchester United take? And. And that's where they're at. The fans, the players, the manager as well. And OE also made the point in his piece that they have, what, seven points from six games and that is exactly the same total as they had this time last season. Under 10 HAG and 10 HAG had three more Premier League games. He only lost one of those and he was sacked. It's very, very difficult, close to impossible to think that he's going to turn this round amrom.
- [43:08]
C
I mean, quite the contrast then Megan with Sunderland. They'd be disappointed if they don't stay up at this point, wouldn't they? I mean they might be in the Champions League next season. The way they go.
- [43:17]
B
Yeah. I actually had a friend of mine message me they're Sunderland fan and, and they were like, yeah, we're going to go win the league and then we'll go and win the Champions League next season. I was like, fair play, have fun, go enjoy it. I just think they've, they've been practical in setting themselves up. I think some. My, my Sunderland friend actually said that they were slightly disappointed not to see more of the players who helped them get promoted sort of playing in it. If you're going to stay up in the Premier League, you do have to have that ruthlessness and you have to be practical about what you need. And some of those players, if they feel like they should be starting in the Premier League, clearly that that's not what the manager thinks and that's okay because it's showing on the pitch. They are getting those performances and, and they're getting the results. That's. That's not to say it's going to be easy. It's not to say they're going to stay up, but I think compared to where historically we've seen a lot of teams come up and they're trying to play a certain way and play a certain style and they just look like naive. I don't think Sunderland have that naivety about them and that' it's been nice to see. I still think it's going to be difficult. I'm not saying they're going to stay up or they're going to be safe, but I think they've got an edge about them that is going to be really critical for the rest of the season.
- [44:21]
A
I totally agree with all that. I think it's really, really, really refreshing to see Sunderland do what they've done. And I say that for several reasons. One more recently, obviously the promoted clubs struggling so badly. I mean Sunderland have won three games. That's more than Southampton won last season. One more and they've equaled Ipswich. And I think it's all the more impressive because, because they came up through the playoffs and often then it's naturally you're very late to the table doing things. You're behind the curve on making signings or arranging those talks because you don't know if you're going to be a championship club or a Premier League club next season. So their approach to recruitment's been really impressive. It's been different too. If you look at Ipswich last season, Ipswich signed a lot of championship players and they're back in the championship. Sunderland didn't sign one. They were quite creative with what they did. I think bringing in Granit Xhaka looks like an inspired signing. He's been brilliant for them. His experience thing he brings. So, yeah, it's been. It's been, you know, really good to see them doing as well as they have. They're fifth in the table. It's astonishing, really. I think there's a real togetherness about Sunderland. You see that on the pitch. You see that with that, with how the coach works with his players. You see that with the relationship between the fans and the players, which is obviously not too many years ago was really broken. Which makes the story all the more uplifting in a way. I hope they stay up. And I say this actually also, you know, as a fan of a championship club and I know we're talking about the Premier League here, Matt, but it is all connected. It's been pretty dispiriting over the last few years to see what's happened to what we'd class in the championship is good championship teams going up and getting absolutely hammered. And you look at your own team then and think, crikey, if we went up, what's the point almost. So it needs someone to kind of break this chain of what's happened the last two seasons. I'm not saying Sunderland are going to do it, but the way they've started is great. And if they. And if they do stay up, it will give a lot of hope and encourage to clubs in the championship that it's not now a closed shop in the Premier League.
- [46:14]
C
Yeah. And if you are a fan of promoted teams not being rubbish, the Athletic FC tactics podcast might be up your street. That was the focus of the show this week. Almost quadruple the amount of combined points than at this stage in the last two seasons for the promoted sides so far. Oh God, do we have to? Okay. Newcastle vs Forest. Two sides in desperate need of a Premier League win. 15th place Newcastle face 17th place Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Ange Postakov Boglu still without a win in three Premier League games and they lost to Midgeland in the Europa League on Thursday night. Fans are already turning on the new manager. Help me out, Megan. Give me something to feel positive about, please.
- [46:57]
B
I. This look, it was bad. It's been bad. 24, 24 days on the job and it's already getting a chance of you're getting sacked in the morning. It's pretty grim and I am very sorry about that, Matt.
- [47:08]
A
It's.
- [47:09]
B
It's just kind of. It's like you watch. You watch Pastor Kagu on the. On the touchline during the midweek game and it just looks like he's seeing ghosts. It's just like this, this house of horrors behind his eyes. But. But then again, like, it's not like he shouldn't have seen this coming. You know, you look at Postecoglou's record with spurs with set pieces and corners and conceding those goals and it's terrible. It's a terrible record. And then it goes and happens against his European side who apparently everyone on planet earth knew they were good at set pieces. That's what the TNT coverage seemed to suggest, is that everyone knew that this T team was incredibly good at corners. Except for apparently Forest players who just didn't know how to defend any of them. But I don't know, I guess for. For you personally as a Forest fan, like, where's your anger? Where's your ire? Because we can get mad at Postecoglou, but why is he even in the dugout, I guess is the big question.
- [47:58]
C
Yeah, I'll reserve some of it for Evangelos Marinakis. I'll reserve a little bit of it for Nuno, if I'm totally honest, because I think he engineered this exit himself. Forest form tailed off quite badly last season. He signed a new contract when he knew that he wanted out. And he left us in a bit of sticky situation. I also think Stu interested to get your take on this, that Postecoglou deserves some blame because you're going from a style so diametrically opposed from Nuno to Postecoglou. Would it not have been incumbent on him to do a bit of due diligence on this and think, actually this is going to be too difficult for me to come in and do without a pre season.
- [48:29]
A
Yeah, and I wondered if that was going for his mind. Who knows what was going for his mind. As Megan's describing that scene last night when he was just like staring into space almost. I mean, he couldn't do what he did in the post match interview. Looked down at his feet the whole time, which was really uncomfortable to watch that post match interview as well. But yeah, obviously at that point when he's staring into space, you've got, you're getting sacked in the morning going around the City ground, which was quite remarkable to hear that so soon into a new manager's kind of tenure. I think there's two things, Matt, in answer to your question. Yes, I think it was really naive on, on Angie's part and I also think it was a really poor appointment on foreign Forest part. And I said that twofold really. One, because he didn't fit with the way Forest had been playing and yes, there can be a change in playing style and evolution but as you just said, like you probably need pre season and some to do that, to come in at the start of a season and try and change things. Also to come in after someone who'd been really, really successful, that was putting more pressure on him. And I also look, they did great Tottenham to win the Europa League last season. It was obviously a massive thing for them. He got them into the Champions League league. But I found it weird when there was this narrative when he got the Forest job that, well, Marinakis likes him because he's shown he can win a cup and he thinks he might be won the Europa League with Spurs so he could win it with Forest. This seems bonkers to me. I would be looking at the season in its entirety and Tottenham were really poor across the Premier League season last season. So yeah, just strange on so many levels. You know, it's weird to think I was at that Swansea game, sorry for mentioning it a little while back and at the time I thought, yeah, that's a bit embarrassing for you. And you, you were two nil up, you've lost three, two against a championship team. But I also thought it's only the League cup, it doesn't really that matter that much. Forester. In Europe the Premier League is a priority. Obviously here we are now and it's six games without a win and the pressure's clearly building and when the fans turn on you that quickly, I think that that becomes really tough to turn that round. The only way he's going to do that obviously is by winning matches and fast. So yeah, amazing how quickly all that's unraveled and yet actually, you know, weirdly now I looked at palace in the summer and I, you know, we've got a few palace fans at the Athletic and you could sense they were really concerned of what was happening. They weren't signing players There was a whole Conference League, Europa League thing. They were thinking, how have we gone from this best moment in our history winning the FA cup to looking like we're in a bit of a mess going into season? Actually. Palace have really, really kicked on despite losing Eze, you know, arguably one of their best players. And Forest have gone the other way. Sorry to make that comparison as well, Matt, but y. Yeah, it's. It's. It's all a bit bleak at the moment. And you know, I see Forest fans already saying this morning, we're going to have three managers this season, aren't we? And that's probably quite possible. Right.
- [51:16]
B
I think too what's so concerning is that defensive fragility. Like last season under nuno, Forest conceded 46 goals in 38 games and spurs conceded 65 goals. And like you say, Stu, like the appointment to go from Nuno to Ange, like that is such a drought. Like just looking at those two stats, it's like you're going to so drastic. I think it's. They've now conceded 13 goals in six games under Pastecoglou and it's just. I don't know, I think it's maddening and to think that you can just jump from one to the other, it just. I don't know, it just feels like someone's playing a weird sort of video game knowing that they're on like sabotage mode and they just don't care.
- [51:56]
C
Yeah. Sean Deitch for Christmas. Lovely stuff. Big win for Newcastle in the Champions League in midweek. Congratulations to Anthony Elanga for his hat trick in the game on Sunday. Right, let's rattle through the rest of the fixtures in quickfire fashion. Brentford versus Manchester City. Megan, Brentford favourites for this. Didn't have a midweek game. Love playing against a big team at the G Tech.
- [52:16]
B
My brother and my dad would be delighted if Brentford went and got a win here. So, yeah, let's go for that.
- [52:23]
C
We got Friday Night Football. I'm going to be commentating on this one, Stu. Bournemouth against Fulham. Are Fulham the most meh team in the Premier League so far this season?
- [52:31]
A
Quite possibly. And their transfer summer transfer activity was meh, wasn't it? You know, they left things very late and often your thoughts on how a team would do as colour by a load of players coming in which. Which didn't happen there. As for Bournemouth, they lost almost everyone and they're still very, very good, which is pretty amazing in terms of what the manager's done there. And Semeno, wow, what a player. I Love watching him.
- [52:50]
C
Yeah, he's great. Early kickoff on Saturday's Leeds against Spurs. Megan, I've got this as a home banker. Spurs are in the arctic circle on Tuesday. Leeds haven't lost a league game at home in more than a year.
- [53:01]
B
Yeah, and Leeds, when they can make their home as terrifying as they do, I think they, they tend to rise to the occasion. And they, they got lots of their players back from injury. I know D still injured, but you know, Ethan Ampadu coming back from injury. He's Joe Roden looks, looks back fit. So I think the leads have every reason to be hopeful going into this game.
- [53:19]
C
We'll finish with the three other two o' clock Sunday games. Wolves v. Brighton. Stuart. A wolf would, would rip a seagull to shreds in a one on one contest. But if there was a hundred seagulls against one wolf, I think that's much closer to call. Wolves are a pack animal. I think they struggle.
- [53:35]
A
I can't compete with all that. Matt, that's tremendous. Wolves, I felt them last weekend. Right, right, that, that. The weekend of the ridiculous late goals. I mean, eight on Saturday, which was astonishing. 90 minutes and onwards. And yeah, he topped it off Pelenia by scoring that goal. And Wolves devastated at the final whistle. A draw felt like a defeat. Yeah, I'm thinking I'm going with Brighton. I still don't know what to think of Brighton, but I'll go with the Brighton victory there. Two nil.
- [53:56]
C
All right, Aston Villa, Burnley, claret and blue. Action ahoy here. Avila back, Megan back.
- [54:03]
B
Ish. Is that. Can that be an answer? I think they're like half back.
- [54:07]
C
Lower back.
- [54:08]
B
Lower back. Yeah. This is, I think this is a good game for them to go into before the international break and they should look at it with a lot of positivity. I still think, you know, like we're talking about. The promoted sides have shown a bit about themselves and it's not going to be as easy as it has been the last two seasons, but yeah, Villa should be pretty confident going into this.
- [54:26]
C
And last but not least, Everton versus Crystal Palace. Do we need an appropriate abbreviation? Aviation for the Hill. Dickinson Stadium. Because it's a mouthful and it's a terrible name and we, we can't call it the Dick, obviously. Anything else? The Hill. I mean, that's quite boring.
- [54:42]
A
No, I'm straight. I mean, look, Megan and I. Swansea.com. what is that about? So I refuse to call it that. It's Liberty Stadium. So we're just calling it Goodison Park. Okay, it's just a new Goodison park, but I'm calling it Goodison Park. Yeah, well as palace palace will get a result, obviously. They are, you know, the best team in Europe at the moment. They're unbeaten in three years, whatever it is. 19 games in long maybe that continue.
- [55:01]
C
Loads of fascinating games coming up this weekend. I'm really looking forward to that. If you enjoyed the show, leave us a nice review. If you'd be so kind. Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get your pods. That's where we're going to leave things for today then. My thanks to Stu and Megan and producer Jay, but mostly to you for listening. Enjoy the football. We'll catch up with you again soon.
- [55:20]
A
You've been listening to the Athletic FC podcast.
- [55:22]
C
The producer was Jay Beal and the.
- [55:24]
A
Presenter was Matt Davis Adams. Executive producers are at Abby Patterson and Aidi Moorhead to listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows. Search for the athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC podcast is an athletic media company, production and proudly sponsored by Betfair. When everything is moving all at once, your workforce, your tech stack, your business, you don't need more tools, you need one solution. That's why Paylocity built a single platform to connect hr, finance and IT with AI driven insights and automated workflows that simplify the complex and power what's next. Because when everything comes together in one place, growth comes Together, easy experience, one.
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So Dana.
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Nice. Jeffrey, you heard them.
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So what are we having for launch?
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