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Matt Davis Adams (2:33)

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 it is for many the marquee matchup in English football. Liverpool versus Manchester United. And joining me to discuss that and more today are two of the athletics finest. Megan Feringa is back with us. How you doing, Megan?

Megan Feringa (3:01)

Yeah, I'm good. Happy to be back.

Matt Davis Adams (3:02)

And Olly Kay's with us too. Ollie, you ready for club football to resume?

Ollie Kay (3:06)

Oh, absolutely, absolutely. The past couple of weeks have dragged, I think unless you're from Cape Verde or various other places. It's been a bit slow, the international break, hasn't it?

Matt Davis Adams (3:16)

Pauses yeah, or unless you support a team who are not doing very well in the Premier League. We'll talk about some of them as we go on, I'm sure. As well as Sunday showdown, we're going to take a look at some of the other key games taking place on matchday eight in the Premier League. But first let's get to our feature presentation. Well, Liverpool have lost just one of their last 14 meetings with Manchester United. United are winless in their last eight Premier League away games. It's their longest run without a victory on the road since 1989. And two of English football's most storied institutions, but both are wobbling in 2025. United have started the season unconvincingly again. Their 10th. Liverpool have lost their last three in all competitions. This feels like a crazy question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Oli, is Arnaz slot under more pressure than Ruben Amarim going into this one?

Ollie Kay (4:07)

I mean not in terms of job security or serious scrutiny, I don't think. But I think where he is under more pressure is the fact that people Manchester United to lose at Anfield these days. If United lose, are they in a significantly worse situation than they were a week ago, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, four weeks ago? No, probably not. Whereas Liverpool after three consecutive defeats, there is a concern that if they were to lose this game or even to draw it unconvincingly, they will be in very unfamiliar territory for Arne Slot and for the modern Liverpool, really. I mean they had that terrible run during lockdown in 2021. But it's, you know, generally speaking, Liverpool have not been in the territory where they've been going four games without a win and with a lot of attention on their big signings and Wirts and Isak who haven't quite got going yet. Yeah, I think they are under a different sort of short term pressure than Manchester United in this game.

Matt Davis Adams (5:00)

And of course Megan in United's favor and Amarim's favor specifically. Jim Ratcliffe says he's got three years to prove himself as a manager, so it doesn't really matter what happens on Sunday. But also he's won at Man City, Right? True at Anfield last season, knocked Arsenal out, the FA cup at the Emirates. Maybe there's some evidence there to suggest that he personally performs better against the biggest side.

Megan Feringa (5:20)

Yeah, I mean maybe they haven't won back to back games yet and they've just won a game. So the odds of them now winning this one seem probably pretty low. Yeah, I guess there's no pressure if you just listen to Sir Jim give his full backing to Emryn. But then that said though, like when he first came in he said Emran was going to be here for a long time and now he's like, oh, he's got three years. So technically like that hourglass is now tipping. He's put the explicit timeframe onto him, which before it was just a long time. With the leadership structure at Manchester United, it's Ratcliffe ultimately that makes this decision. So for him to be so public about it, I mean it's quite something and it kind of echoes what I think Mason Mount said after they won against Sunderland. He said like we're 100% behind the manager. So it does feel like he's got that backing, at least for now. If he does lose, I think it's more about whether or not they can actually do a good performance. I think more people that's going to be where the stock is held rather.

Matt Davis Adams (6:13)

Than the result issues for Liverpool. All over the pitch as well, Oli, but particularly in defence. Konate forced off with an injury for France. Gravenberg also went off injured during the international break. Sounds like that was just a precaution. But they're already light, aren't they? And Canate's not exactly been lighting it up this season. So we come back again to how costly is it going to be? Not getting Marc Gay.

Ollie Kay (6:34)

Yeah, absolutely. And the injury to Rafael Leone in his debut against Southampton in the Carabao cup, where he was actually playing pretty well, I think even before that you could have said. Well, I think a lot of people did say that they were a bit light in central defence going to the start of the season and perhaps one injury away from a. From a potential problem. Joe Gomez hasn't started yet apart from the game against Southampton. He's very, very capable player but there have always been sort of doubts about his ability to put together a long run of matches and certainly two games in a week. Konate's had fragility with injuries in the past as well. So that is why after selling Jareel Quansah in the summer, they. They were so keen to get Mark Gahey from Crystal Palace. I don't know how they would cope if Virgil van Dijk was injured. So yeah, I think there is a sort of vulnerability there. If you're looking at weak spots in Liverpool squad, that's certainly one of them.

Matt Davis Adams (7:23)

Yeah. And Van Dijk turned into a meme after the Chelsea game, which is not exactly the look you want for your captain. Speaking of looks, we'll get back to the game shortly but it's time for clue one for this week's Put your shirt on it if you're new to the quiz. It's where I dig out one of the kits from my vast collection. It's sort of. Well, it is related to the game that we're talking about. Three clues for the guys to try and guess which player it is that I'm thinking of. So this week we've got the Real Madrid home shirt from 2003. It's white. Obviously it's an added ass number. Circle neck Siemens Mobile as the sponsor. Here's the first clue. He played against Manchester United in the Champions League, the Premier League and the FA cup, but never scored. Which tells you it's a Liverpool player.

Ollie Kay (8:04)

I think I could have a reasonable guess but I don't want to be really boring and get it first time.

Matt Davis Adams (8:09)

No, no, if you get it right, that's fine.

Ollie Kay (8:11)

Fernando Morientes.

Matt Davis Adams (8:12)

Oh, you're absolutely right. I thought you were going to guess Michael Owen. That's why I tried to put a sort of red herring in there. But yeah, Fernando Morientes is correct. I mean, I'm not sure many people, Ollie, remember him as a Liverpool player as much as they do a Real Madrid player. I was surprised to see he'd actually won the Champions League three times and scored in a final. Megan, do you remember the Steven Gerrard FA cup final? Was that before your time? He came off the bench in that 1. The 33 against West Ham that Liverpool eventually won on penalties.

Megan Feringa (8:43)

I wouldn't say it was before my time, but I am just fascinated by the way that men can do this. They can just sort of go into the depths of their minds and just pull out things. I can do this post 2016 but anything before then, everything's a blur.

Ollie Kay (8:57)

I could do it pre2016. Everything since since 2016 is a blur for me.

Matt Davis Adams (9:03)

So Arnaz Slot's trying to integrate quite a lot of new faces into his team this season. Ole. One of the big issues they've had though is at right back. I mean so many players have been tried there. Frimpong Bradley, Saboszlai, Gomez, Endo. Maybe not quite enough has been made of the fact that they lost Trent Alexander Arnold. A lot of the focus on that has been about his struggles at Real Madrid but Liverpool finding it difficult to replace him.

Ollie Kay (9:25)

Yeah and I think partly it's been fitness. I think they probably thought Conor Bradley was going to come in and start the season and put a marker down and probably be the first choice in that position. But he's only been able to start three games. He's not really found a rhythm and he's had some difficult games against and most recently against Garnacho at Chelsea where he got booked very early on and got hooked at half time. So that presents a problem. He needs to cut out the early yellow cards. He's a very good player but he's not played an awful lot of football for Liverpool. So if I'm just looking now, he's 22, he started 20 Premier League games, three of which this season. So to imagine that he would just be able to take over from Trent Alexander Arnold as first choice right back and for it to be seamless I think was possibly a little bit naive. And I'm not saying Liverpool were saying that because Liverpool brought in Frint Bog who could play there as well in pre season. Arne Slot was talking about various others, Endo, Szobozlai, Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez as well. So I think they've got a lot of options but no really compelling option at the moment. And I do agree with you that they miss Trent Alexandranov most obviously them is his ability to make a defensive splitting pass or a game switching pass from right back or from slightly in field. But I think although his defensive abilities were much more maligned, I felt last season was probably his best from a defensive point of view at Liverpool. But I think in general without last season being his best from an attacking point of view by any means, I feel they do miss him and they were always going to miss him and they need to find some stability in that position. I think a lot of players can feel that they would have a better chance of functioning at their full capacity for inverts, for example, if things were clicking elsewhere. And I don't think they are at the moment.

Matt Davis Adams (11:08)

I mean it's defensively it's all over the pitch, right Megan for Liverpool, not just right back but left back as well. We kind of assumed that Kirk has had come straight in and pick up where he left off at Bournemouth, but he hasn't. Andy Robertson really struggled for Scotland over the international break. So you would assume therefore that their opponents at the weekend might be looking to target that area. But Reuben Amarim, not a wingers guy. Is he going to have to change his system a little bit to target Liverpool's vulnerability or is that just something that we know now that he is simply not going to do?

Megan Feringa (11:39)

Yeah, it seems like too obvious an answer, right? Like, oh hey, your opponent has all of these vulnerabilities, maybe you should try to exploit them. Absolutely not. He's going to stick to the system. That's the way that he does. And that's not to say he won't make adjustments. Like against Sunderland he did make a few adjustments, very small tweaks. But he's obviously a man of the system and he's going to worship at that altar. And I do think that this system could possibly still exploit the issues that Liverpool has. That's why Mram likes this system is he has this idea that if you master the 343, it's malleable, right? Like you can play different types of way. It's multifunctional. The problem is that Manchester United have not mastered the system yet, so they can't really do it. Ahmad Diallo is more of a winger. If you actually use him in that space, they could exploit Liverpool's weaknesses on the fullbacks. We've seen other teams get the better of Liverpool in that way with the backing that he's just gotten. They obviously want him to continue to play his system. So I think we're still going to see Amraam stick to that.

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Dana (14:22)

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Matt Davis Adams (15:31)

Those looking for goals in this game, Ollie, might be disappointed. You've written about a change in playing style and the number of goals scored from open play, which is down from 2.38 per game a couple of seasons ago. 2.15 per game last season. It's at 1.69 so far this term, the lowest since 2008. 09. That would suggest we're not going to get a repeat of the 7 nil in this fixture from a couple of years ago.

Ollie Kay (15:55)

No, but the goals, or the lack of goals in the Premier League is, is worrying really, I think, as is the fact that although set goals are up and we've seen all this emphasis on long throws, open play, goals in particularly are massively down. Massively down. I know people talk about and this is part of the, what I was writing about, but people have spent the last few years moaning about modern football. Oh, it's all possession, all passing around at back. It's been really open, expansive, risky football that we've seen in, in the recent years. I don't get why people suggest otherwise. The number of goals, the number of mistakes, the number of sort of high turnovers, that shows that it's risky, it's attacking, it's creative. And what we're seeing this season is a sort of almost a reverse, you know, a reversion or a, or a response to that. It's gone so far in one direction, it's going back in another direction. It's been direct football. There's been a lot of set pieces, long throws and a lot of really, really incredibly long stoppages. And I found it boring, to be honest. I think this season has been a hard watch at times. What I would say is that these two teams, Liverpool and Manchester United, are not particularly of that kind of set piece, fixated style. So maybe I'm not saying Manchester United are necessarily the most exciting watch these days, but it shouldn't be a game that's sort of punctuated by 60 second stoppages while they line up to take a corner.

Matt Davis Adams (17:23)

All right, so the 20, 25, 26 Premier League. Maybe not for the neutral, but good for Tony Pulis and George Graham at least. What's the score going to be on Sunday, Megan?

Megan Feringa (17:31)

I think it's going to be 31 to Liverpool, but I do think United are going to score in the first half and everyone's going to get excited and then it will just end sadly and then I'll get a text from my brother and my dad. And they'll just put like a frowny face or something.

Matt Davis Adams (17:50)

Yeah, we get an update on how they're doing post game, hopefully. What about you Ol? Any chance for United here at all?

Ollie Kay (17:56)

I think it's definitely a chance. I think. I think you'd say a better chance than you would have said three weeks ago when Liverpool were winning every week before the three consecutive defeats. So I would say Liverpool favorites. I would say Liverpool 2 1. I think it's probably about time Isak or Witz clicked and produced and I think, yeah, maybe this would be the game for that. But like Megan, I can see United scoring and posing a few problems and definitely not. Not another seven zero.

Matt Davis Adams (18:22)

All right, interesting gaming prospects at Anfield then. 4:30 UK time on Sunday is the kickoff for that one.

Athletic FC Sponsor Voice (18:29)

This is the Athletic FC podcast, proudly sponsored by Betfair.

Matt Davis Adams (18:33)

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 Boyce is with me to look ahead to Liverpool vs Manchester United. Alex, this is probably your least favourite fixture, isn't it? As a Leeds fan, you know, Matt.

Alex Boyce (18:50)

I never think of it like that, but I mean, look, I'm always a Liverpool fan on days like this or in games like this rather. But I'm just happy to be back. It's felt a long break for me this one. I mean, don't you ever realize that I've got Turf Muller to get to on Saturday?

Matt Davis Adams (19:03)

Well, that is not where we are focusing today. It is the big one on Sunday at Anfield. Liverpool in poor form. But are they still firm favourites for this one?

Alex Boyce (19:13)

Yeah, you know what's really interesting about this game is that the perception of Man United's chances to get something this weekend due to their poor form that Liverpool are in. And that's actually reflected somewhat in the match odds on the Betfair sportsbook map because man United are 4 to 1 to win the game. So still a big price, of course, but considerably shorter than in previous years. I mean, funnily enough, their shortest price in the last five seasons was in March 23rd when they were shorter than 2 to 1. And can you remember the scoreline that day, Matt?

Matt Davis Adams (19:41)

Was it the seven Nilla?

Alex Boyce (19:43)

It was the seven nil when they were the shortest price. Which just shows sometimes how these things work. That same scoreline this weekend is 200 to 1 by the way. But look, on a serious note, it's just interesting to see Reuben Amarin's side so much shorter this season and they have drawn the last two games away from home against Liverpool so perhaps there is a little bit more of a chance for them this season. Liverpool, by the way, they are the favorites 4 to 7 and the draw is priced at 130.

Matt Davis Adams (20:08)

Mo Salah not exactly been vintage so far this season, has he? But this is one of his favorite games and you think that he might have an impact one way or another this time around?

Alex Boyce (20:20)

Yeah, there's a couple of selections for me around Mo Salah and let's start with the less obvious one and that's backing him to commit one or more fouls, something that he's done in seven of his 10 starts in all competitions this season, which is quite unique for most Salah there's only three players at longer odds as well to commit a foul. So whether that's down to his own form, you know, is he slowing down, our defenders sort of getting the better of him at the moment? Plenty of questions sort of been asked of him but 8 to 11 to commit a foul, I think that's a great start to build our bet builder from there this weekend. And then I also think the more obvious backing him at 10, 11 to score has to be looked at because look, you mentioned it there, he loves this fixture. 13 Premier League goals against them, the most any player in the division's history. He scored in 10 of his last 11 games against them, including four in a row. He's had 25 shots on target in those 11 matches too. And if there is a fixture for more to rediscover that old form, this is very much it. And the final leg I want to throw in Matt, just quickly, is Ahmad Diallo to be fouled two or more times? He's up against Kirk has more than likely on that right hand side for Man United. And Kirk has he struggled this season, hasn't he so far? Really, really not really acclimatized to life at Liverpool. And across his last nine starts, Ahmad has hit that two or more to be fouled line in six of those, including three of his last four. So that takes our bet builder up to bigger than 5 to 1. If people think that's a little bit short a Kirk's yellow does boost that right up to 21. But remember we've got betfair safe sub so if your player is subbed off, your bet is not over yet. So this means that on selected markets your bet rolls onto the player coming on to keep your bet live right to the win. So we've Got a great game this Sunday and I think that bet could go a long way.

Matt Davis Adams (22:03)

All right, Sounds good to me. The second biggest Premier League game in the north this season. Enjoy turf more and we'll catch up with you soon. Alex.

Ollie Kay (22:10)

Thanks, Mark.

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Matt Davis Adams (22:15)

Well, a point ahead of Liverpool are league leaders Arsenal. They face a Fulham side who've only won one of their last 14 Premier League games against the Gunners. But Arsenal have only taken one point from their last two visits to Craven Cottage. Doesn't quite constitute a bogey team. It's certainly below par. Megan, is this the absolute textbook definition of the kind of game that Arsenal are going to need to win if they want to be champions?

Megan Feringa (22:40)

We said this when they went to go play Newcastle United as well. It's like every game Arsenal are constantly having a litmus test. It's like, well now here it is. Here's another one. You got to do it. But yes, if we're going to go with the cliche, absolutely, they have to win this game. It's kind of funny because yesterday I was out with a friend and they're a Liverpool fan and they were just sort of bemoaning the season and saying that everything was already lost. And I was like, you're a point. Like a point behind Arsenal. This is chaos. But they were just convinced that Arsenal are now a team that can go to Fulham and beat them. And I think that is just such a switch from what it was last season or even the season prior. Like Arsenal just look, they look more robust. They know how to win these games, whereas before you wouldn't expect them to. They've got the best defense in the league. They've recruited really, really well in the summer. They've got an actual squad. If they're going to do it, it has to be this season because everyone else has sort of fallen to the wayside. So yeah, this is textbook defin. You must win this game if you want to win the title.

Matt Davis Adams (23:40)

Meghan mentions the squad depth there. Oli. Somebody who's not going to be involved. Is Martin Odegaard out for a while by the sounds of things, with a knee injury. I guess though, this is why they signed Eberich Eza and maybe this is his chance to show why he should be the kind of pivotal figure in the middle of that Arsenal midfield stroke attack.

Ollie Kay (23:57)

Yeah, I think he's probably been aware when he signed that he was going to have to be patient to some extent. I mean, he's not been starting Every week he's been sort of in and out and they've been sort of introducing him slowly, which I still think probably the best way to be able to do it. But now, you know, people would expect him to get more of a run of games. But there are others. Mikel Marino might come in. You know, they've got so many options in most positions, particularly across the Pac 4 and midfield and they've got a few injuries. Meduke is injured as well. But I think they probably more than Liverpool, probably more than Manchester City have the squad depth this season to make you think that having four or five players out at any one time is not necessarily going to kill them. It seemed to take a lot from them last season when they had various players out at various times. But I don't think they've really got more than a couple of players that you would be terrified of losing for two, three games. And that's not about the quality of those players, it's about the quality of the Undersford. He's right throughout the squad.

Matt Davis Adams (24:54)

And that squad depth Megan that Oli talks about. In stark contrast to Fulham right now, Sassa Lukic now Rodrigo Muniz for this game. Two key players for them, Tete and Jimenez Doubts as well. It looks like Marco Silva had a point when he wanted more reinforcements than he got over the summer.

Megan Feringa (25:10)

Yeah, and Anthony Robinson too. He's either injured or just something's going on there. But I remember I was reading something on the Athletic really recently and it was saying how the lack of recruitment this summer wasn't necessarily out of negligence. It was, it was tactical because Fulham are trying to invest in things off pitch so they were putting their money more towards that and they were strategizing towards the off pitch stuff rather than the on pitch stuff. I don't think anyone in the top brass would have expected there to be this litany of injuries and stuff but that's obviously why it's football is that you probably should be ready for this kind of thing to happen. And Marco Silva I think can be frustrated 100%. There should have been more signings. Kevin is a player that they've signed and we've really not seen much of him which I'm most upset about because like he's so ripe for memes. Like didn't like you could get Catherine o' Hara involved. Like there's so much fun stuff that you could do with this and we haven't seen much of him and I think that is a shame for obviously like the football, you know Fulham probably need him to be firing, but just, you know, for meme culture too, I think we're all suffering for that. But then too like you've got the kid from bayern Munich, the 18 year old Jean loan, Jonah Cusa Sarri, and like we haven't seen much of him. I know Marco Silva said that, you know, he's not ready. The Premier League's really physical, he needs to adapt. But you're sort of in a bind at this moment. You've brought him in on loan, you're going to have to bring these players in. So I think Fulham, you're going to end up seeing them really need to just kind of rely on some of these younger kids. And I know it's not really what Silva likes to do, but he's gonna have to because at this point, what else do you do really? Especially against Arsenal.

Matt Davis Adams (26:43)

Well, maybe Silva can take a leaf out of old man Marley's book in Home Alone when he said to the youngest McAllister kid when the burglars were pillaging the neighborhood, step up, Kevin.

Jeff Bridges (26:57)

Morning, Zoe. Got donuts.

Dana (26:59)

Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage?

Jeff Bridges (27:02)

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Dana (27:09)

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 system.

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Athletic FC Sponsor Voice (29:18)

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Matt Davis Adams (29:21)

Sponsored by Betfair Crystal palace against Bournemouth Oli I don't think at the start of the season we had this pegged as the most exciting looking game of the weekend potentially. I mean it's the derby of the two managers who everybody wants right in Oliver Glasner and Andhony Iriola. And for palace, interesting to see how they react to that defeat against Everton, the end of their long unbeaten run. But, but generally they're great at Selhurst. Right. They haven't lost there since February, so good opportunity potentially for them to put that defeat behind them quickly.

Ollie Kay (29:53)

Yeah, they are two teams that have both had a lot of praise and a lot of recognition I think belatedly for the job the managers in particular have done. I just was looking at it the other day and reminding myself Oliver Glasner won one of his first six games in charge at Palace. Antonia Iraola were none of his first nine at Bournemouth. So this time two years ago after Iraola had just come in, I think they were second bottom of the table. They'd got three points from eight games, I think it was. And there were a lot of people were asking had Bournemouth made a terrible mistake by replacing Gary o', Neill, who'd done a perfect good job with with Iraola. And the job that they've both done since since a sort of fairly difficult start is fantastic. And it's, you know, something that a lot of coaches might just think, oh, you know, I might have lost my first seven games. But you know, look at what happens when you trust managers. That's not the norm. It's exceptional what what they've both done. They seem to have both kicked on despite losing key players in the summer. And look, it feels like it should be a high quality game, but I think it's. I don't know whether it would be a thoroughly entertaining game. They're two teams that are very, very organised. They both like to play on the counter attack and both like a long throw. I'm not saying it's sort of Stoke v. Bolton or Stoke v Blackburn circa 2009, but it's not necessarily going to be the most free flowing of games, but it could be fascinating and intriguing and fiercely competitive and energetic certainly.

Matt Davis Adams (31:15)

And the home side, Megan might have the manager of the month, but the visitors might have the player of the season so far in their ranks. And Antoine Semenu, incredible stat. He's been involved in 14 of Bournemouth's last 18 Premier League goals, scored 10 assisted, four. Is he up there with the best players in the division right now?

Megan Feringa (31:34)

He is so fun. And like Ali had said earlier that the Premier League's been quite boring this season. And then he's just kind of like, well, I'll take it upon my shoulders to make sure that we're not all bored out of our minds for the next nine months or however long it is. Yeah, he's fun. His story is great. He has a player who's sort of come up through the leagues as well. I mean, I remember I have Newport friends who are fans of Newport county and you know, they've got memories of him. That's fun. Like we're not just talking about a player that has sort of always been up at the top.

Dana (32:02)

He's.

Megan Feringa (32:02)

He's definitely had to graft. He signed a new contract, takes him to 20, 30. He's got a release clause which I think the sign of a really good player is when all of the websites that are sort of leaning towards one team do the same story, which is Seminya has a release clause. Your team needs to go and sign him next season. Like this is how you can do it. See, like you saw like all the Liverpool websites doing it, Manchester, all of them, and I love that. But he's, he's just such a fun, fun player. And against Fulham too, the comeback win, you know, that was him. He obviously had the two goals, the assist. I think afterwards he's speaking to Sky Sports and they had said that he, it's not just that he's involved in all these goals, it's the fact that he's so clinical in them too. I think he had eight goals from 11 shots. I mean, that's crazy because you have the. What's the saying, like, you can't score if you don't shoot. But he's basically like, I'll score if I shoot, is effectively what he's doing. And was saying, like, how he's become more clinical and that the game is slowing down in his head because he was previously, like, very much about power, now he's about placement. And you can see that when he's doing it, when he's sort of beating a play on the byline, looking up, knowing that there's no one in to cross. Okay, where can I place it? Either into the bottom corner, beyond the goalkeeper, rather than just powering at him. So he's just such a fun player to watch. I really, really enjoyed him.

Matt Davis Adams (33:18)

Yeah, he's been great. Premier League action. Front loaded onto Saturday this weekend. There are a couple of games on Sunday, though. One in North London where Spurs host Aston Villa. Spurs starting the weekend third, just a couple of points off the top. None of the last 20 Premier League games between these sides have been drawn. But Megan, for as good a start as Thomas Frank has had, he needs to start winning some home games in the Premier League, doesn't he? They beat Burnley opening day, but since then lost to Bournemouth and Drew against Wolves.

Megan Feringa (33:48)

Yeah, and I think some of that too has to come down to creativity. You know, it's been. I think for spurs fans, they've just been really happy to have someone come in and just bring like, like structure. Sometimes you need that just someone to kind of like calm the waters and be like, we're not going to do anything chaotic today. We're just going to make sure that we do the fundamentals right. And that's what Frank's done in the post Pastecoglou era. But now you kind of need them to go to the next stage of development, which is be a little more creative, be a little better and attack. Mark Cary had a really good article on the Athletic and he was sort of describing how Spurs's ball progression isn't really great in the way that they're setting up in midfield. Cause you have Benten, Gore and Pala who sort of uses this pivot and that's a really good defensive foundation. But the two of them aren't necessarily the best ball progressors. And granted, like, spurs aren't helped by the fact James Madison's out, Losevsky's out. I know they used Xavi Simons in at Leeds and that was pretty good, but I think it was. I think the stat that Mark Carey had was that 34% of spurs possession so far has ended in a shot, which is their lowest rate since 2018. 19. So it's that next part of the Frank evolution is getting them to be just a little bit more exciting and attack, link midfield to the front line. And yeah, getting someone like Kolamani back is potentially big in terms of doing that. From what we saw last season with spurs, it's not, you know, they were playing just this pure chaos. And I'm not saying that going back to the fundamentals and being just good at your basics is sexy, but I think right now it is kind of sexy because spurs were so not good at doing that last season.

Matt Davis Adams (35:20)

What about Villaroli? It looks like they've turned around that poor start to the season. Didn't win any of their first five in the league, but they've won four in a row in all competitions. But if they are without Ollie Watkins, who got injured on England duty, that significantly reduces their chances. Right. It was. It was quite handy having John Durant around for this kind of circumstance.

Ollie Kay (35:38)

Yeah, it feels very different to this time last year with Aston Villa when they were going into the Champions League and. And they were. They'd come off that excellent season under. Under Emery. This season, though, they were so slow out of the box. It was a lot of negativity. No wins in the first five in the Premier League. They've now won four in the road in all competitions, as you said. But it's Fulham at home, it's Burnley at home, it's Bologna and Finaled in the Europa League. I think they do need to go up another level, really, if they're to get out of this slump. And I think this is a really significant test for both teams because they've both got tough games coming up. Villa's fixtures now in the Premier League, it's Tottenham followed by Manchester City, Liverpool, Bournemouth before the next international break. So they seem to have momentum in the fact that they've won four in a row, but I feel they need to certainly go up a couple of gears if they're to be able to sustain that and get back to the Villa over the past few seasons.

Matt Davis Adams (36:38)

All right, we'll find out more about their progression then on Sunday and in the coming weeks, by the sounds of things. Let's go. Quick fire through the rest of the weekend's game. One word answers, pretty much yes or no, please. It kicks off on Saturday, 12:30, on the banks of the Trent at the City Ground. Nottingham Forest against Chelse Oli. Is this going to be Ange Postecoglou's last game in charge.

Ollie Kay (37:02)

Yes.

Matt Davis Adams (37:03)

Phew.

Ollie Kay (37:06)

I don't take any. I feel sorry for him. I really do. I think the vitriol aimed at him during that Michelin game was really unfair. He's not the one who sacked Nuno or destabilized Nuno or appointed himself. The mistakes have been made by Marinakis, by Edu. Of course we know who the fall guy will be.

Matt Davis Adams (37:25)

Yep. Thanks for coming. Hasn't worked for anybody. Goodbye. Saturday, 3 o'.

Alex Boyce (37:29)

Clock.

Matt Davis Adams (37:29)

Megan Brighton against Newcastle Jan. Kuba Minte Scored against Newcastle twice last season. Refused to celebrate. He never actually played for Newcastle. Came through their academy. Should we be normalizing celebrating against Euphorma Club?

Megan Feringa (37:43)

I. I like it. I think that if it's done without being too like aggressively sassy or anything, I think it's fine. I. I think there should be a little bit of edge and it's cool. And you show like. Show off your personality. Maybe that's the American in me. Where every single like event in NFL is celebrated as if you've just won the world. But I like it. I think football needs it. Everything's become way too sterile. Just give me some Margie Bargy. I'm happy with it.

Matt Davis Adams (38:13)

Yeah, I'm for that too. If you don't want to celebrate, fine. But don't apologize instead of celebrating that as the absolute worst. Oli Sunderland against Wolves. Who's more likely to be a Premier League team next season?

Ollie Kay (38:23)

Season Sudlet.

Matt Davis Adams (38:24)

Nice. Okay, I think I'm with you there.

Ollie Kay (38:26)

Man.

Matt Davis Adams (38:26)

City Everton. Megan. Erling Harlan got 36 goals in his first Premier League season. He's got nine already. Is he gonna top his own PB this term?

Megan Feringa (38:36)

I'm gonna say yes. I think he will.

Matt Davis Adams (38:39)

Certainly looks like it, doesn't it? He is unbelievable at the moment. Burnley against Leeds. Ollie. Everybody very pleased that it's Parker versus Farker and rhyming managers. Therefore my question to you though, is this going to be last on match that is today?

Ollie Kay (38:52)

Yeah. I think the last game at Turfmore was nil. Nil. Both managers are happy to keep it tight.

Matt Davis Adams (38:58)

Yeah, textbook. More cards than goals in that one, I reckon. Finally then, Megan. Monday night in football, West Ham vs Brentford is the London Stadium. The worst Premier League venue in history.

Megan Feringa (39:09)

All of my West Ham fans, my friend, fans. I don't have fans from West Ham. All of my West Ham friends, all of them would say absolutely yes. So I'm going to go with yes. Though I did enjoy some of the West Ham fans singing to Everton fans. You've sold your soul for this hole. And I was like, that is some crazy. Not holding a mirror up to yourself. That's wild.

Matt Davis Adams (39:30)

Have you reported on a game there, Ollie, or have you been.

Ollie Kay (39:32)

Yeah, I don't even call it West Ham. It's the Olympic Stadium. When I went to join the Olympics, actually, I thought, well, this doesn't feel like it's going to be a football stadium. This doesn't feel like it's very transformable. And so it's proved, I'm told, that people who watched the baseball there was it a couple of summers ago when they had baseball there. It was excellent.

Megan Feringa (39:49)

There's a chance in there we have the best baseball stadium. You'll never sing that. So that for them.

Matt Davis Adams (39:55)

Lovely stuff. So that rounds off the weekend's action, then a London derby at the London Baseball Stadium. Loads of great games to look forward to this weekend. Then that's where we're going to leave things for today. My thanks go to Ollie and to Megan and to producer Jay for putting it all together, but mainly to you for listening. Enjoy the return of the Premier League. We'll catch up with you again soon.

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