It’s the international break, and thank the football deities for that. They’ve cursed me otherwise, and after another Arsenal cup final defeat I’m ready for two weeks off from the club game. It’s a chance to take a deep breath before the run-in and the massive summer of World Cup 2026, and a good time to take stock of the international game, its governance, and the social context in which the United States will host the tournament. Or should you just go to Mexico?

That’s what David Goldblatt and I wonder in this week’s episode as the podcast returns with a vengeance. The English sports writer, broadcaster, sociologist, and journalist is the author of many books, including The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football and Injury Time: Football in a State of Emergency. He’s also teaching some masterclasses ahead of the tournament this summer in partnership with Equator magazine. Find out more about his seminar here.

We also got into FIFA, Brazil and England’s designs on the trophy, the suppression of a different side of America that could have shone on the world stage at this tournament, and whether the U.S. will be the first host nation to be at war with one of its World Cup guests:

You can follow The Football Weekend on Instagram and YouTube. Check out previous editions of the Road to the World Cup:

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A few weeks back, in uncertain times for my football club, I jumped on the Arseblog Discord server mid-match and registered a complaint: The crowd at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s home turf, was poor.

This observation was not well-received. My fellow supporters blasted my ridiculous statement from all angles: Maybe the team should do something to get them going, was one refrain. Or: They paid good money for those tickets and they can do what they want.

A week or two later, Everton came to the Emirates, and early on in the match, the NBC commentary team got in on the crowd critiques. Around 35 minutes, Peter Drury and Lee Dixon said, there’s often a vibe shift at the Emirates. Drury described it as a kind of low, guttural sound of frustration in the home support, something like the grinding hum of the London Underground. The stress of 22 years without an English league title begins to wear on Arsenal fans if the team drifts into the middle part of the match without scoring. There’s a 10-minute spell to open the second half where the atmosphere is revitalized, Dixon added, but once the halftime pints and chat wear off, the bone-crushing anxiety sets in again. It’s beyond tetchy, bordering on aggro.

Of course, that match ended with one of the great moments in Arsenal’s recent history, the show-stopping heroics from 16-year-old Max Dowman that generated the best scenes around the Emirates since Reiss Nelson’s last-gasp winner against Bournemouth in 2023. The crowd roared its approval, the gigantic sound powered by relief as much as joy, and none of us will soon forget where we were or how we felt in that moment.

But still, there were all those minutes before Arsenal got the opening goal, and before a teenager delivered the points with such a flourish.

I’ve been thinking ever since about what role the crowd has to play, whether the home crowd owes the team anything. Match commentator Clive Tyldesley wrote last season about how even the famous Anfield atmosphere has changed because “our relationship with our football heroes has changed…even Liverpool heroes. It’s now up to them to give us something to get excited about.”

He was describing the decline of the symbiotic relationship between team and crowd over the years, surely tied to the growth of the game as a worldwide entertainment product and a tourist attraction. The team has always owed the crowd a performance—hard work and graft at the minimum, even if the football was less than sparkling—but there was a time, in this telling, when the crowd served something back free of charge. The price of admission was lower, but it was subsidized by an obligation to get up and sing even when things weren’t going well.

There was a belief, and there still is, that the crowd can change the outcome on the pitch. For a story on Anfield last season, I spoke to Liverpool supporters who carried a devout conviction that they’d won that famous Champions League second leg against Barcelona as much as the team did. “That victory was our victory,” one told me.

Now, all of this is easy enough for me to say from my borderline academic vantage point as a Yankee Arsenal fan who’s been to 10 or 11 games in English football. I’m not a season-ticket holder going to matches week after week through the slog months of January and Feb, when the damp cold of the British Isles creeps into your bones and you might rather be on the couch.

But I have, like many of my fellow Gooners, weathered two decades of heartbreak and disaster, close-run things and total collapses. I am wracked with anxiety about how this season will end, yelling at my television through that Everton match and plenty of others, and I don’t begrudge anyone in the stadium who does the same sort of yelling.

Because my detractors in the Arsenal fan chat were exactly right: Match-going fans are under no obligation to cheer and sing when they don’t feel like it. They have a right to express themselves however they’d like, and Arsenal fans in particular have paid a pretty penny for the privilege of passing through those turnstiles.

But this debate about whether fans have the right to behave as they please is kind of a red herring, isn’t it? It’s not unlike the incessant debates about Free Speech, where certain people prattle on about how they should be allowed to say whatever they want. You can!1 So, how will you use that right?

The privilege of attending your team’s matches week-in, week-out carries with it a choice, and a weighty one if you believe the crowd and the atmosphere can affect the team’s performance. You don’t have to do anything, but what will you choose to do? What kind of crowd do you want to be a part of?

It brings to mind that Johnny Depp one-liner from Once Upon a Time in Mexico: “Are you a Mexican, or a Mexican’t?”2

In the end, the home crowd wants to see the team win. Will they help that effort, or hurt it? Knowing you can express yourself however, will you choose to support the team when things get rocky, or will you howl and moan at the slightest setback? Will you roar your team forward, or will you shift nervously in your seat, letting the anxiety overwhelm you, pleading quietly for something to change and give you a reason to cheer?

When I say the crowd has been poor, I’m saying they have every right to say what they want—but in my view, they’ve chosen poorly.

In that 2022-23 season where Reiss scored his famous goal, there were so many moments where Arsenal players made mistakes and the crowd immediately responded with a warm roar of encouragement. I remember a disastrous error by William Saliba that was greeted this way.

It’s understandable that things have changed since: That young Arsenal team exploded out of nowhere to compete for the title, and after so many years where the club failed to challenge, the faithful responded with an outpouring of love and joy. They were just happy to be there, particularly coming out of the pandemic. But after three straight years of coming up short and 19 before that without a title, the goodwill has ebbed as expectations have flowed. Mikel Arteta has been given all the tools to succeed, and I’m among those who believe his position may be untenable if he does not bring home the bacon this season.

Still, high standards don’t need to mean cantankerous vibes in the stands. Yes, you paid hundreds of pounds to be there. With great expenditure comes great responsibility. That’s jokes, of course—it’s not about the money. It’s about winning, and if you think the crowd plays a role in that, there’s only one way to act. In Arsenal’s case, it means channeling a little bit of that 2022-23 feeling. Let young Max Dowman be the catalyst for change. Be the crowd you want to see in the world, and—I say this to myself as much as anyone—try to enjoy yourself along the way!

My apologies for the lack of posting these last two weeks. First I got married, then I was on the road last weekend for a stag do.1 That’s what the locals would call it, anyway, because we went to London, then East Anglia. This discerning groom-to-be chose a Championship match for our Saturday activity, and we all piled onto the train to zip out to Ipswich for a meeting of the Town and Leicester City.

It was a simple game, and beautifully so. The hometown Tractor Boys are gunning for promotion, firmly in the playoff places but angling for automatic. Leicester are struggling against relegation from the second tier, quite a fall for the Premier League champions of a decade ago. But it was the Foxes who opened the scoring through Patson Daka on 39 minutes. That brought a roar of frustration out of Portman Road, but the songs were loud and the atmosphere bubbling throughout. Then Sindre Walle Egeli equalized for the home side in the 76th minute and everybody went home reasonably happy.

For me, though, it wasn’t about the result or even the quality of the game. It was just nice to go to the football with some folks, have a chat about our lives or what the hell’s happened to Leicester or just some silly bullshit besides, and not spend any time at all on some big debate about The State of the Game. Is the Premier League in stylistic decline? Nobody cares in Ipswich right now, where they’re just trying to get back to that top table. And nobody in our group wasted their day out arguing about whether Football Is Finished.

We often hear about “the modern game,” but I would zero-in on “today’s football culture” when I say it kind of sucks. Way more than long throw-ins, I would say. Because it’s been digitized, social-media’d, much of the chat around football these days has been sucked into sad-sap Chicken Little emotional extremism.2 Everybody’s a philosopher now, and too many are writing the same very basic, very boring treatise. And that’s when they’re not just engaged in nihilistic trolling.

But you can choose not to be miserable. Go to a Championship match. Go to a non-league match, as local as you can get. Turn off Sky Sports or whatever YouTuber is screaming that this is The Worst Season Ever. Yes, we can collectively mourn the Riquelmes and the Bergkamps of the world, football’s creative class who seem to have faded from the game. But you don’t have to spend your time listening to anyone, even legends of the league, moan.

Because on the weekend I was busy getting married, the Saturday slate featured a brilliant Premier League match.3 Iliman Ndiaye played wider for Everton at St. James’ Park on the day and showcased some thrilling touch and trickery along the sideline deep into the second half. He zipped the ball back and forth, bamboozling Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy and flicking a heel-pass by him. This was free-flow football from the French-born Senegalese, bottom-of-the-boot cage-football stuff. It was a reminder that there are still players around whose goal on the pitch is to do something entirely new.

And this match between Newcastle and Everton was simply a classic. Nothing boring, nothing staid. Back-and-forth goalscoring. Lively, attacking play throughout.

Nine minutes in, Ndiaye powered some smart combination play just inside the Newcastle half and drifted inside to latch onto a return pass 25 yards out. He smashed it into the crowd. Joelinton then got himself some space in Everton’s box and curled his side-foot finish high and wide, but it was early indication that Newcastle would also pose a threat. Then Everton went down the other end, won a corner, and a short ball into the six yard box at the near post was put in expertly off the far one by Jarrad Branthwaite with a flick of his head. Who said a corner goal ain’t beautiful?

St. James’ Park went quiet, but Newcastle came roaring back into the match thanks to some midfield dynamo play from Sandro Tonali, who was fantastic all day. He battles and pulls the strings, a true #8, and he laced a curling ball through the lines to Jacob Ramsey to smash in an equalizer near 32 minutes.

But then Everton came again. James Tarkowski smacked a pass through the lines at rib height and Dwight McNeil took it in beautifully. He popped it over Lewis Hall with his first touch and played it into Beto with his fourth. He got it back and put in a speculative, curling effort that Nick Pope fumbled in the Newcastle goal, presenting it to a gatecrashing Beto to punch home in a moment of scavenger opportunism.

Newcastle came forward again and again either side of half time, looking for parity. The hosts dominated the ball and finally found the equalizer when Joelinton crept in behind the defense and clipped a strike-able ball to the top of the 18 for Jacob Murphy to volley home via deflection. The Norwich City product has made a fine career for himself in the Premier League and roared his satisfaction at the crowd, who sent a roar back.

This was St. James’ Park. This was a thumping Newcastle equalizer with eight minutes left in the 90. Surely the Magpies would go on to seize all three points.

And then Everton, with nearly the next kick of the ball, snatched back a lead. They’d been under the cosh for much of the second half, but an opportunistic break forward saw Ndiaye play in Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who crossed with hope into the six-yard box. Thierno Barry and Lewis Hall went crashing into the scene, grappling and stretching for the ball, but it was Barry who won the battle—by sliding bum-first to put it home.

Some of the goals were beauties, some were just fun, and the whole thing was a nerve-jangling theme park ride. You don’t even need to go down the leagues to find the fun stuff. There are mesmerizing #10s on your TV each weekend, playing in the cursèd Premier League where fun goes to die. Just try to enjoy it, OK? Have a look at Sunderland vs Brighton this weekend, or Chelsea vs Newscastle, or Crystal Palace vs Leeds United, or Man United vs Aston Villa. Even Liverpool vs Tottenham might be fun.

Maybe I’m just in my honeymoon phase, but is it all really that bad?

Sorry for the excessive Arsenalposting recently. I try not to fixate on my club in this newsletter, but these are trying times in North London. Mikel Arteta’s team is seemingly on the edge of collapse, as a commanding lead in the title race has evaporated following a string of diabolical results. The 2-2 capitulation at Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek was just the latest. They’ve taken 10 points from the last 21 available and dropped points to Brentford, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, and Liverpool. From that group, only United were showing any sort of form at the time, though Brentford are enjoying a fine season overall.

The Wolves result in particular was an emotional disaster. It destroyed Arsenal fans’ faith in the team and in Arteta. They threw away a 2-0 advantage with a cataclysmic second half performance that—if they fail to win the league this season—will go down as the match that lit a genuine self-immolation. Manchester City, a fairly pedestrian side so far in 2025/26, surely smell blood in the water. If Arsenal fail to win the Premier League or the Champions League this season, they will not just be an English punchline. The club will be the laughingstock of Europe.

It’s the kind of narrative that Mikel Arteta cannot possibly recover from as manager. He must prevent it, or it could cost him his job. I say that as someone who began this season with the belief that the ruling Kroenke family would never sanction a dismissal unless he failed to finish in the Champions League places. But in the circumstances that have developed, failure would be such a damning indictment of Arteta’s ability to get his team to the finish line—to maintain their composure and play their game and score the goals to take the title.

Arteta’s peril is compounded by the fact that his Arsenal team don’t play Arsenal football, at least enough of the time. I’ve defended the team this season from Instagram meme page “haramball” hating, and I think they play flowing stuff at times. They face incredibly low blocks in the Premier League, which makes most matches a slog for which the opposition (who’s clogging things up and damaging the contest) is never blamed. But Arteta’s team also aren’t loose enough to let it flow, at least too often, and the danger they create in the open field on the counterattack feels way down this season.

When Arsenal hit the really bad times late in Arsène Wenger’s reign, we supporters could at least comfort ourselves with the moral victory that we played some lovely stuff. Maybe the team was soft and lacked the spine to win titles—for some reason Wenger refused to make the move any kid with FIFA Manager Mode would and sign a defensive midfielder—but at least they put the ball on the floor and engaged in some thrilling pass-and-move possession play.

They’d get smash-and-grabbed all the time when the pretty play came to nought, however, and Arsenal fans got behind Arteta in part because he showed his teams would be defensively solid, physically imposing, and street smart in the ways Wenger’s teams never were after Patrick Vieira left the club. That’s what’s kept Arsenal fans on board even when the football is on Benzodiazepines: Mourinho-style results-getting.

But the faithful truly fell in love with this team in the first half of 2022/23, when the young group exploded onto the scene playing dashing stuff. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Ødegaard went to a new level, Gabriel Jesus was spinning and battling and rattling off the combination play, Granit Xhaka was reborn as an attacking number eight in midfield, and all that played out in front of a stout and athletic defensive corps.

When they fell away that time, it was explicable: They were young. They’d get more chances. And they did, the following year, when only a superhuman showing from City was enough to better Arsenal’s closing run to the season, where they won 16 of their last 18 games. Then 2024/25 was an injury- and suspension-riddled disaster only redeemed with a Champions League semifinal run powered primarily by the team’s brilliant defensive schemes and game management. And now 2025/26 was supposed to be The Year again.

If it isn’t, that spells trouble for the manager. He’s been given all the tools, backed in the transfer market and with regular salary hikes for his key men and in disputes with problem players or the football authorities. Arsenal have, on talent, the deepest squad in Europe, with two or three or more players at every position capable of producing at a high level. Failure will be failure to cope with the mental demands of the game at its apex, and Arteta will take the blame.

The only explanation worse than that it’s the manager’s fault is what many Arsenal fans fear most: That the club is cursed, that there’s something in the water at London Colney that makes it impossible for the club to fill its cabinet with major trophies. Maybe it’s the new stadium, where the club have yet to win anything outside the FA Cup, or maybe there’s something seeping into the bloodstream. In the end, are they just…Spursy?

Now Arsenal will have to contend with the small matter of a journey to their most vicious rivals. It’s a short trip down the Seven Sisters Road to Tottenham, who would love nothing better than to give their greatest enemies a little push into madness. It might even make up for the ignominy of seeing Spurs sinking towards a relegation scrap. Can Arteta and his team keep their fans—and themselves—out of the loony bin? We’ll find out on Sunday.

The first thing I noticed about working in an office four days a week is that I can’t watch the random Tuesday afternoon football. (OK, there were other things. It’s been a minute since I sardined into a New York subway train at rush hour or packed a sad desk lunch.) It’s not that I’m sitting there at my desk on a Tuesday thinking about the football—I don’t have time—but when I get home, I realize the football world kept spinning without me. Across the last couple of years as a work-from-home freelancer, I could arrange my work around a midweek game worth watching, but no more. Now I just try to catch the highlights. Like Henry Hill said, “I have to wait around like everyone else.” Or at least like the Americans with 9-to-5s.

This week, I missed all the Premier League stuff, including Arsenal’s treacherous trip to Brentford. Probably for the best there, though I did not miss the opportunity to get perturbed about how Brentford can score a long-throw set-piece goal and it’s not considered evil. That’s true—it’s not—but just imagine the news cycle if their opponents on the day had done the same thing. Clearly, the widespread concerns about playing style in the league this year are not applied universally.1

I also missed Atlético Madrid’s demolition of Barcelona. The highlight reel for that one was almost unbelievable. Atléti could have been 5-0 up at the half as their opponents put on a circus in a cup semifinal. Time and again, Barça’s (in)famous high line was slashed to pieces with simple patterns of play as Atléti boss Diego Simeone near-exploded in satisfaction on the sideline. It was suicidal football from Hansi Flick’s side, and it was enough to make me think Barcelona cannot win the Champions League this season. They can win La Liga by blowing teams away—they’re still probably the world’s greatest attacking outfit—but you can’t win a two-legged cup tie playing like that away from home. At one point, Barça’s back line attempted an offsides trap in the opposition half.

But I missed all that, at least live. Like most other football-crazed Americans, I have to piece together what happened when I come up for air after a long day swimming in other waters. It’s a tough time of year in that regard, as the return of the domestic cups forces league fixtures into midweek and the Champions League knockout phase looms. I’ll have to take a sick day if Arsenal make another semifinal so I can go to O’Hanlon’s. Don’t tell my boss.

I’ll still write about football and I’ve got a very big project in the works for The Football Weekend. But I plan to spend less time reacting to individual matches2 or pontificating on who’s up and who’s down. Everybody else is doing that anyway, and I’ve been shifting in recent months towards the other things I (hopefully) bring to the table. More on that soon, but thanks as always for being here.

Every fanbase thinks the referees are against them and they have the worst injuries and everybody hates them. Well, not every fanbase. Fulham fans live a fairly cordial existence. But Liverpool fans believe they get the worst decisions, Manchester United fans think they’ve got the most haters. Everybody thinks they have it bad.

But you gotta admit that Arsenal fans get more shit than anybody.

Yes, I am biased as one of that tribe. But the ritualized trolling of Arsenal fans in online spaces is well beyond a social phenomenon. It’s big business. If you throw up an Instagram post about how some football luminary said the Premier League is worse than ever—that it’s boring and no fun to watch—of course you are going to use a photo of Arsenal at a corner kick. The people who do not like Arsenal will respond, and so will the Arsenal fans.

Because the Gooners always engage: arguing in the comments section, railing against the meme page admin, rage-sharing with others so they, too, can get enraged. Those are the clips that always pop off, where some ex-pro-turned-pundit says this Arsenal squad would be “the worst team [ever] to win the league,”1 because a lot of people will at least say they agree just to get a rise out of Arsenal fans. For the hobbyist trolls in comment sections, it’s the brief thrill of triggering someone on the Internet. For the media players involved, from fan creators to Serious News Outlets2, it’s an easy way to get reach and—somewhere down the line—make money.

For plenty of fans, the disdain for Arsenal is real and personal. They’re from up the Seven Sisters Road, or they don’t like Mikel Arteta, or they don’t like the way the team plays3, or some player pissed them off 16 years ago. Or, God forbid, they support Chelsea. But a sizable number of people are—in ways large and small—engaging in the performance of hating Arsenal for fun or financial gain, and Arsenal fans bugging out at them is the secret sauce that makes their businesses so successful. This is not a moral statement but a simple reality.

What Arsenal fans will choose to do with this information is, of course, their choice. But when they spend their time arguing online with fans of other clubs about whether some winger is better than Bukayo Saka, they are feeding the big, hulking anti-Arsenal content machine.4 We live in a world of vibe-based informational ooze, where half the people commenting on a post didn’t watch the match it’s talking about anyway. Everyone who participates is getting into the Content Business—which now seems almost entirely detached from watching and enjoying football—though only some are getting paid.

I just stopped engaging with them. This is not to say I’ve entered some Zen mind state as a fan: I am wracked with anxiety about whether Arsenal will end their trophy drought this season. But I’m just not going to participate in Declan Rice v Moises Caicedo, or the spirited debate around whether corner kicks are evil now. What does it matter that somebody thinks somebody is better than Saka? I wouldn’t rather have that player in an Arsenal shirt. I support Arsenal, I support Saka. The end.

Which is not the approach many Arsenal fans have taken, and that’s fine. Everybody’s got their own journey and their own battles to fight. I will join them in the Flame Wars on one day only: The one where Arsenal win the league. All the trolls will get their comeuppance on one glorious afternoon, and I will do my part. Hell, who am I kidding—it’ll go on at least until the World Cup kicks off 17 days later. These haters have had their fun for 20 years after all. It’s the least we can do.

If you’ve been to a Premier League match as a tourist, you’ll know the fraught process of trying to secure a match ticket, particularly at the older grounds with their idiosyncratic designs. If you’ve never had the pleasure, I hope you will soon, and I hope this guide will spare you some headaches and heartache along the way.

Because I’ve had a few of the former, and it’s cost me a pretty penny to avoid the latter. Just this past week, while visiting three stadiums in London on a reporting trip, I had to re-list some tickets that turned out to be disastrously located1, take a loss on what I paid, and secure a better seat at added expense.

Here’s your chance to learn from my mistakes.

The first thing to consider is that there are roughly two sets of stadiums across Europe: the classic old grounds, and the modern post-millennium bowls.

With the new breed of stadiums built after 2000, you’re mostly looking at state-of-the-art design, at least according to one key criterion: No matter where you sit, you’ll likely have a clear view of the pitch. Tottenham Hotspur’s home is the foremost example of this, but it’s also true of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and plenty of others. Even some old grounds that have been cleverly renovated over the years might qualify, like Liverpool’s Anfield.2

But in many of the old grounds, some of which date to the late 1800s, that is most assuredly not the case. Within these magic places, which were built in patchwork fashion without the full benefits of modern engineering3, you’ll have to contend with a true scourge on your good time: Obstructed Views. The exact definition of what constitutes a seat with an Obstructed View varies. As we shall see, things can get contentious, deceptive, and highly disappointing.

But first, let’s run through the three basic ways you can secure a ticket to a Premier League match, assuming you don’t have a friend who’s a season ticket holder who is kind enough to bring you along.

These methods have varying levels of approval from the league itself and its constituent clubs, and The Football Weekend of course does not endorse any method of acquiring tickets that breaches league or club policies. If you’re here to complain about tourists ruining match atmospheres, the Premier League, or football in general, please leave your comment down below to boost this post in the Substack algorithm.

That said, here are the three ways …

1. THROUGH THE CLUB

This is the safest way to get a ticket — if possible. That’s a big “if,” because at places like the Emirates Stadium, it’s very difficult to get one under any circumstances, even if you’re a member.

Most clubs have tiers of membership, usually starting at the lowest level with the club’s primary color (Red, in Arsenal’s case), then Silver, then Gold. The higher up you go, the more priority you have to get tickets when they become available. But you can’t always just buy your way into top-tier membership immediately, and the lower tiers might not be much use.

Membership should at least get you onto the club’s internal ticket exchange, where you could buy tickets off another member who can’t make it to that particular match, though there can also be restrictions based on tiers. Crystal Palace has an International Membership that purportedly makes it easier to get to Selhurst Park for a one-off trip, so check if there’s something like that available. In some cases, like Fulham (Craven Cottage), you can find seats in at least one stand (the Riverside) without joining up as a member.

Unless you’ve got a serious preference for where you’d like to sit, going through the club is a very good option because you’ll get an exact seat assignment. You’ll know the row and seat number, and you can look things up on A View From My Seat to make sure they’re satisfactory.

2. THROUGH OFFICIAL RESALE PARTNERS

Some clubs list third-party companies that you can turn to for tickets when they’re unavailable through the club itself. Maybe you don’t want to become a member, or maybe you became one and still couldn’t find a ticket.

Here are some of the firms I’ve seen listed:

• Champions Travel

• Go Sport Travel

• Travel Connection

• P1 Hospitality

• Box Office Events

To be transparent with you, I have never actually bought tickets this way.

From what I’ve observed, they are more expensive than what you’d get from the club directly, and they sometimes include random add-ins like Uber vouchers or tours of London. If anyone reading has used this route, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you get an exact seat assignment using this method. You buy a package, which might list the section of the ground you will be seated in.

As we are about to see, that is a key distinction. It very much matters where within the stand you’re sitting, particularly in the grand old stadiums. But this is the second-safest way to get a guaranteed seat in the ground for the match: If you buy one of these, you should be there for kickoff.

3. THROUGH STUBHUB OR LFT

For some of us, just being there is not enough. Particularly because I’m often working when I go to these games, I need to be in a place with proper atmosphere and a good view — not just of the action on the pitch, but of other interesting areas of the ground. When the club route fails and you’re unimpressed by the third-party resellers above, there are the very third-party resellers.

This is the most perilous way to get tickets, and it isn’t cheap. But done right, you’ll be there in a prime seat in the best part of the ground.

The two main options are Stubhub.ie — not Stubhub.com — and LiveFootballTickets.com. They operate in a way with which you’re probably familiar: Someone who bought the tickets is reselling them to you, and the platform they’re using will take a cut in the form of (significant) fees.

There are two factors that make this method perilous:

1. It’s the most removed from official channels, and there’s the greatest chance the tickets will not be delivered to you as promised. Both these platforms pledge to get you your money back if this happens, but that’s small comfort if you’ve paid for flights and hotels and all the rest. Sometimes, tickets are not delivered until 24 hours before kickoff.

2. There are few rules about how the tickets are listed and what details the seller must include. The row might be listed as “EVERTON FANS” or “ROW EFC.” The exact seat number, in my experience, is rarely listed.

This point #2 is where things get really thorny, particularly with regard to the older grounds. With the new stadiums, you might pay good money for a seat in Section X and find out when the tickets are delivered that you’re at the back of Section X. But you’ll still see pretty well across the pitch. If you’re at the back of Section X in an old stadium, though, it could ruin your whole day.

I’ve been to some classic haunts of the English game: Goodison Park, Craven Cottage, Selhurst Park. In each of these, and in many others across the land, a significant number of seats are officially labeled “Obstructed View” or “Restricted View” by the club. They are sold at a discount at the (physical or digital) box office, because the seat in question is behind a pole or pillar or other major obstruction.

These are clearly labeled on the two resale sites above as Obstructed or Restricted View, even if they don’t list a row or seat number, so you’ll have some idea of what you’re getting yourself into. But there are other seats listed as Unobstructed on the resale sites that make a mockery of the term. If you’re at the back of the Arthur Wait Stand at Selhurst Park, for instance — say, Row 48 — you might have an Unrestricted View ticket that grants you a clear view of about 30% of the stadium. The rest is an overhanging roof. When folks in front of you stand up during a particularly exciting moment, that percentage may well drop to zero.

When I went to Goodison, this letterbox experience was a very charming note for the story. I loved it. But I did not want the same at Selhurst Park last week — not that I succeeded. After much deliberation, I went for two tickets that were more expensive than others in Block W of the Arthur Wait Stand. My hope was that by shelling out a bit more, I’d get better tickets. They were marked “Unrestricted View,” but the row was not listed.

When the tickets were delivered, they were marked Row 48. I looked them up on A View From My Seat and promptly sent a politely infuriated email to LiveFootballTickets. A representative responded, in a tone that indicated this happens all the time, that their terms and conditions clearly state that a seat is only considered Obstructed if it’s listed as such by the club, and that there are plenty of officially Unobstructed seats that may be located behind obstructions. Like an ancient overhanging roof.

There was simply nothing they could do, the rep explained, and I ultimately folded and re-listed the tickets. I ate the cost difference between what I paid and what the tickets resold for a few days later.

This experience crystalized my view on Premier League ticket-hunting: Never, ever buy a seat listed without a specific row attached. You’ll likely have to pay more than you would for other tickets listed, but it’s worth it. Or, if you’re willing to risk the letterbox view, you should pay the least amount possible for a ticket in “Row CPFC” or whatever. It’s essentially a lotto ticket.

So that’s the guide:

1. Look for tickets through the official club website.

2. Consider looking via the official resale partners.

3. If you go through Stubhub or LiveFootballTickets, only buy tickets that have a row listed.

Of course, the decision on which stand to sit in at each stadium is a whole ‘nother story. I can tackle that one in a future installment if this one was helpful. In the meantime, happy hunting.

Thierry Henry was playing streetball. He was grinning, spinning, slaloming through opponents, stopping and starting and gliding and darting. He was doing … back-pedal step-overs? Who even knew they existed? Or did he just invent them?

We posted the old clip on Instagram last week, and it got a big reception. Those old JOGA TV ads from Nike — Joga Bonito and all that — were like the rhythm of life for young football fans like me in the 2000s. I even had the trademark white-and-gold ball, which I’d kick against the wall for hours as I waited for summer to turn to fall and for the new season to start.

Surely, some of the warm welcome for the clip was just raw nostalgia. But there was also something more to it.

“Play beautiful. Oh god, if this energy comes back, I’ll follow football again.”

“Football is dead now in comparison. Pull off a roulette on the ball or a flip-flap and the manager would probably sub you for not passing to the CDM 😭”

“Best era ever. Back when player freedom, magic and unpredictability were the norm and encouraged and not every team played the same tactics.”

“I remember watching this as a kid and being completely blown away by those reversed stepovers going backwards. And I still am. How did you do that, Titi?!?”

“Another Legend introducing a younger one. Was Henry I watched doing the look one way & pass with opposite foot during a warmup.”

These are all comments, and they’ve all got a theme. I try not to be a nostalgia merchant, and I try not to hammer the present day too much. I tend to think things are not that bad. But there’s no denying things have changed, and Thierry Henry is a sort of cypher for the revolution.

Back then, the Frenchman was often praised for his terrifying pace and ferocious finishing, his ruthless effectiveness. But he was also an inventor and a sorcerer, erupting in bursts of magic and silky skills, a juggler and illusionist as well as a sprinter and an assassin. For some reason, that side was less talked about1, but it’s the side the commenters above couldn’t get out of their minds. Maybe absence makes the heart grow fonder, and now that the trequartistas and tricksters are gone and everyone’s a giant who runs 14 miles a game, it’s easier to see that when Riquelme and Ronaldinho roamed the Earth — well, the pitch — we had it made. Maybe we didn’t appreciate it enough at the time.

One of Henry’s most gloriously inventive moments was that flick-up and volley against Manchester United at Highbury, when he received the ball with his back to goal outside the 18-yard box, swivelled, and called in an airstrike on Fabien Barthez’s goal. Who could even have conceived of it before it happened? And he did it all in one moment. There’s that common term for a rare thing: Genius.

Arsenal will host Manchester United once again this weekend, this time at the Emirates Stadium, and few of us foresee a goal of that caliber — or much flair at all — on the agenda. But we might sense something else missing, too.

The genuine animosity of those Arsenal-United encounters back in the day is gone now as well. The real hatred, the resentment, the constant cycle of revenge-and-counterpunch, the feeling that this was all personal. That’s gone, too, in the highly professionalized game of today. Sure, these two haven’t competed for the title against one another since those 2000s days, but the marquee title rivalry of the latter Premier League — Manchester City vs Liverpool — was also overwhelmingly bloodless. Outbursts of genuine rage, like at the end of Chelsea and Arsenal’s League Cup semifinal first leg last week, are rare and fleeting.

Depending on your viewpoint, that might be a good thing. But it’s another thing, like the drift away from flair and individuality and self-expression towards physicality and tactical schemes and efficiency, that drags the game further from the street and the playground and the back alley. The Roy Keane-Patrick Vieira spats were, in a way, beloved by the watching football world, because there was something relatable in the beef. It was recognizable from the smaller football lives many of us have lived, the big moments we remember from ultimately tiny games, the spike print on your ankle that requires an answer.

The drift towards physicality and away from interpersonal conflict —and, let’s be honest, ugly violence — have occurred simultaneously.2 It’s perplexing, but more than that, it’s been disenchanting for many. They simply find the modern game harder to connect to, because it contains fewer of the elements they might recognize from their own streetball days. Does no one want to pull off a sublime and unpredictable bit of skill, something the world has never seen before? Or is it that their managers won’t let them? And failing all that, doesn’t anybody want to kick someone anymore?

Maybe we’re in for a surprise on Sunday when Arsenal and Manchester United take the field once more. They’re both coached by ex-players who remember the tail end of the time when this match was war. Mikel Arteta in particular will want to avoid any funny business and just secure a result — Arsenal have far more to lose. But if his side can get the upper hand, it would be nice to see one of his players attempt something that Grandpa Cantona — the wizened elder of the sorcerer’s game — might approve of.

It was, after all, King Eric who brought Thierry to the blacktop in that legendary Nike ad. He was the ultimate individualist, but the game has since moved on and made a lot more money in the process. Maybe they don’t have to worry about what any of us want to see. They know we’ll be tuning in either way.

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

ON SATURDAY, you can kick off with WEST HAM vs SUNDERLAND to see whether the Black Cats will head down to London and (pretty much) secure their place in the Premier League next season. They’re already 16 points clear of the Hammers, whom they could push further towards the relegation trapdoor with a win here.

Then you’ve got FULHAM vs BRIGHTON in a potentially lively meeting of the Premier League’s middle class, and you can finish out the English bit of the program with BOURNEMOUTH vs LIVERPOOL. Arne Slot’s fortunes have improved just a bit in recent weeks, but his seat is still very hot on Merseyside and this trip down to the South Coast will be a test.

Finally, there’s a Top Four clash in La Liga between VILLAREAL and REAL MADRID. The knives are out in the Spanish capital, and they could grow sharper still if new coach Álvaro Arbeloa struggles again in this meeting of second and third in the table. Or, if you’d like to keep an eye on the table-topping cinderella story in France, MARSEILLE vs LENS kicks off five minutes later.

ON SUNDAY, there could be a very spicy atmosphere at Selhurst Park as CRYSTAL PALACE vs CHELSEA goes down with the home team in turmoil. Players and coaches are leaving in droves, and Palace leadership will just be hoping they don’t lose the fans completely. Or, if you’d rather see two Champions League yo-yo clubs duke it out, there’s NEWCASTLE vs ASTON VILLA on at the same time.

Then there’s a massive match in the Scottish title race: HEARTS vs CELTIC, with the defending champions visiting the league leaders in Edinburgh. Shockingly, the Hoops are six points behind and at risk of being cut adrift if they can’t make up ground here.

That’s 90 minutes before ARSENAL vs MANCHESTER UNITED, which is followed by two big games out of Italy: JUVENTUS vs NAPOLI, which is fifth hosting third, and fourth hosting second with ROMA vs MILAN. That’s a tasty Sunday.

The Football Weekend is on tour this week with a first stop in Paris, France after a harrowing red-eye flight sat in front of the most formidable snorer in human history. More on that in this week’s episode — a quick one for a number of reasons, not least your host’s fitness levels.

I initially asked ESPN and NBC commentator Jon Champion if he had a few minutes to chat about one of the stadiums I’ll be covering on the ground next week for the latest edition of our CATHEDRALS series on the world’s great football stadiums. Look out for more on that soon, and check out more of Jon’s stadium expertise in our Goodison Park feature from last year.

But it also seemed like a fine time to check in with him about his work calling FA Cup matches for ESPN — our U.S. listeners can catch every game on ESPN and ESPN+ this season — because it’s already an extraordinary edition of the world’s oldest knockout competition. Macclesfield, yes, but Wrexham, too, and Jon was at the Racecourse Ground to call that one last weekend. Plus, we got into a bit of a Manchester derby preview:

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

On Friday, there’s a Ligue 1 clash with title implications: PSG vs LILLE. For once, the Parisians are not top of the table in January. That’s Lens, a remarkable story, and the defending French and European champions must see off fourth-place Lille to keep pace with their new challengers.

On Saturday, there’s a lively start to the slate with that aforementioned derby, MANCHESTER UNITED vs MANCHESTER CITY. More on that in the episode above. Shortly after that, there’s REAL MADRID vs LEVANTE if you want to see how new Merengues coach Álvaro Arbeloa gets on after that disastrous Copa del Rey exit to second-tier Albacete on Wednesday. And they were so eager to rid themselves of Xabi Alonso…

Then you can settle in for CHELSEA vs BRENTFORD, another interesting test for new Blues boss Liam Rosenior after a semifinal first-leg defeat to Arsenal in midweek. Shortly after that, there’s EGYPT vs NIGERIA in the AFCON third-place game. Mo Salah’s last game for his country? Finally, those Gunners will travel up to the Midlands for NOTTINGHAM FOREST vs ARSENAL. The title-chasers will be hoping they don’t get Dyched.

And on Sunday, there’s the main event: SENEGAL vs MOROCCO in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Sadio Mané saw off Salah, his old Liverpool frenemy, with a single goal that proved enough for Senegal to get past Egypt in one semifinal. In the other, pre-tournament favorites Morocco required penalties to dispatch the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

The Moroccans are seeking their first AFCON title in 50 years with their first appearance in the final since 2004 — proof they’ve got a true golden generation of players on their hands. The Senegalese were champions just five years ago, when Mané once again got the better of Salah in the final. Can he get the better of the hosts this time?

We all spend a lot of time lamenting the cynical side of the modern game, but if there’s an antidote, it’s the weekend ahead of us. The FA Cup Third Round Proper is one for the romantics: the smallest clubs in the land can share a pitch with the biggest, and both sides can live a different football life for a day.

Moss Rose was built in 1891 for Macclesfield Town, which was wound up in 2020 amid financial troubles. A phoenix club was born in the ashes and has risen from the ninth tier of the English football pyramid (the North West Counties Football League) to the sixth (the National League North) in next-to-no time. Now they’ve got their biggest match of the year on Saturday, as FA Cup holders and Premier League stalwarts Crystal Palace will come to a small ground south of Manchester to battle the Silkmen.

In fact, says this week’s guest, it’s one of the biggest days in the combined history of Macclesfield Town and Macclesfield F.C. That guest is James Walker of The Silkmen News, a podcast and newsletter. He explained how new owner Robert Smethurst righted the ship with the help of his friend Robbie Savage after buying up the assets in an online liquidation sale.

We also touched on how Wayne Rooney’s brother, John, is doing this season having replaced Savage as manager, how non-league football is thriving these days, and how Macclesfield got their nickname:

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

On Friday, you’ve got WREXHAM vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST (2:30pm ET, 7:30pm UK) in a fun little test for Hollywood A.F.C. They’re starting to find their footing in the Championship, but can they handle a Premier League outfit? There’s also PORT VALE vs FLEETWOOD TOWN at the same time. Just got a feeling about that one.

30 minutes earlier, there’s a very strong AFCON matchup between CAMEROON and MOROCCO (2pm ET, 7pm UK). The Moroccan hosts were pre-tournament favorites, while Cameroon crashed out of World Cup qualifying amid a federation feud featuring Samuel Eto’o, but the Indomitable Lions have pieced it back together for this tournament.

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On Saturday, you can lead off with MACCLESFIELD vs CRYSTAL PALACE (7:15am ET, 12:15pm UK), then I’d go for BOREHAM WOOD vs BURTON ALBION (10am ET, 3pm UK) as a National League side hosts Burton in League One. There’s also SALFORD CITY vs SWINDON TOWN in the same window, a meeting of two sides pushing for promotion in League Two.

Then there’s another peach of a cup tie in GRIMSBY TOWN vs WESTON-SUPER-MARE. Ruben Amorim’s dismissal this week reminds us that Grimsby felled his Manchester United in the League Cup back at the start of the season. They’ll host Weston-super-Mare A.F.C., who are in the sixth tier of the English football pyramid in the National League South. That puts them even with Macclesfield as the lowest-ranked teams left in the competition.

Finally, you can round out your Saturday with CHARLTON ATHLETIC vs CHELSEA (3pm ET, 8pm UK). The Blues will travel across London to The Valley to face one of the Championship’s poorer sides, and yet you still feel it’s an early test for new boss Liam Rosenior.

If you’d rather go for AFCON on Saturday, the quarterfinals continue with ALGERIA vs NIGERIA (11am ET, 4pm UK), two teams that went unbeaten in the group stage. So were both contestants in EGYPT vs IVORY COAST (2pm ET, 7pm UK), though the former required extra time to get past Benin. Check out Mo Salah’s control and run after 117 and a half minutes to carry the ball up the field for his team. He followed that up by stroking the ball past the keeper on the break to make it 3-1, game over.

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On Sunday, you’ve got a Premier League encounter from yesteryear as PORTSMOUTH host ARSENAL (9am ET, 2pm UK). The team at the very top of the English pyramid will travel down to the South Coast to do battle in one of the great historic venues across the land, Fratton Park. It’s noisy, boisterous, and contains one of the few works of Archibald Leitch still standing.

We’ll round out our weekend by deviating from the FA Cup-slash-AFCON script. There’s some cup final fare out of Spain with BARCELONA vs REAL MADRID (2pm ET, 7pm UK) in the Supercopa de España, and then a Serie A title bout kicks off 45 minutes later with INTER vs NAPOLI (2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK).

New year, new weekend, and we’re off in an unconventional direction. The big match of the coming days for our purposes is in Paris, but it ain’t PSG. RED STAR PARIS travel to face TROYES on Saturday for a meeting of second against first in France’s Ligue 2.

It’s a perfect opportunity to have a look at one of the world’s more storied — if off-beat — football clubs. Red Star was founded way back in 1897 by Jules Rimet, eventual inventor of the FIFA World Cup, and in the time since it’s acquired layer upon layer of identity. It’s the French capital’s rebel club, a vessel of alt-Paris, a different kind of chic from the glitz of the European champions at the Parc des Princes.

Simon Binns is a veteran journalist who wrote a book on Red Star — and fell in love with the club along the way. Red Star Paris: Punks, Politics and Power Struggles in the Fight for the Coolest Club on Earth is a history, a social study, and a love letter, though Binns also made use of his background as a financial journo to tackle the issue of Red Star’s new owners: 777 Partners, most famous for a failed takeover attempt of Everton Football Club.

Simon joins the show this week to talk all of the above and ruminate a bit on the swirling contradictions of modern football:

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A smug Chelsea hater’s interlude

Enzo Maresca’s time in West London was pretty much finished last month when he went public about his “worst 48 hours” as Chelsea manager, but perhaps he was doomed before that.

From what I’ve seen, the club’s supporters have come around to the idea that the people running the institution are more interested in their player-trading model than in winning the biggest trophies. (Though The Guardian reported this week that the Italian’s departure was at least in part linked to a dalliance with Manchester City, his former employer quietly seeking a replacement for Pep Guardiola should he leave this summer.) It does appear that Chelsea’s decision-makers have rejected the notion of adding experienced, physically dominant players to the squad — the kind that won so many trophies during the reign of Roman Abramovich. Add in the refusal to sign a top goalkeeper, a top center back, and a top center forward, and you’ve got a toxic stew.

Some of us were banging this drum when Chelseaworld nearly drowned itself in smugitude after winning the Europa Conference League and the Club World Cup last year. The truth is that Chelsea were poor for much of calendar year 2025 and registered few victories over top sides, that battering of Barcelona this fall notwithstanding. The “Champions of the World” are nowhere close to the best team in the world, and once the league results reverted to the quality of the first half of 2025, Maresca was always likely to get pushed out the door.

Since Abramovich’s departure, the club has moved from competently ruthless to ruthlessly incompetent while achieving a few results — just enough — to allow everybody involved to slide into delusions of grandeur. Now they need a manager.

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

ON SATURDAY, you can kick off with ASTON VILLA vs NOTTINGHAM FOREST (7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK) as the Villans attempt to shake off their shellacking by Arsenal in midweek and avoid getting Dyched.

Then it’s SENEGAL vs SUDAN (11am ET, 4pm UK) in the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16. The Sudanese are into the knockout rounds amid a civil war at home, while Senegal have a whole crew of top players capable of pushing them deep into this tournament.

Finally, you’ve got ESPANYOL vs BARCELONA (3pm ET, 8pm UK) in the Derbi Barceloní, as La Liga leaders Barça travel across town to confront their neighbors.

ON SUNDAY, there’s a rekindling of one of England’s great modern rivalries with LEEDS UNITED vs MANCHESTER UNITED (7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK). These ain’t exactly the days of Eric Cantona or Rio Ferdinand for either one of these sides, but newly promoted Leeds are on pace to stay up while Man United — despite their rankling inconsistency — are in the Top Four chase.

Then it’s TOTTENHAM vs SUNDERLAND (10am ET, 3pm UK) in what’s surely a massive match for Thomas Frank. The Spurs manager will be in massive trouble if they lose again at home, especially considering that Sunderland have slid into some indifferent form after their sparkling start. The Black Cats did grind out that point against Man City on New Year’s Day, though that was at home at the Stadium of Light.

Next up is MANCHESTER CITY vs CHELSEA (12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK) for another edition of MONEY WARS. Despite that setback against Sunderland, Man City are firmly in the title race that Chelsea fans thought they’d be in. Instead, they’re sliding into a Top Four scrap with just one win in their last seven league matches.

Then it’s SOUTH AFRICA vs CAMEROON (2pm ET, 7pm UK) in another AFCON Round of 16 match as Sunday begins to wind down, and it’s a real beauty. Both these sides are dangerous as we enter the knockout stage, though there’s also a little derby out of the French capital kicking off 45 minutes later with PSG vs PARIS FC (2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK). Obviously, we’ll be supporting Red Star …

It’s a tradition unlike any other: You wake up the morning after Christmas, belly stuffed and — depending on your age — grinning at your pile of presents or nursing a headache. You roll over, grab your phone, and have a look at The Fixtures. There are so many of them, all lined up in a row, ready to ferry you from morning to night down a river of football.

It’s Boxing Day, and there’s enough Premier League on the TV to help you forget that Christmas has already come and gone. After all, this is English football’s High Holy Day, a sacred date on the calendar. It’s to be observed from your sofa with the scent of a slightly withering pine tree wafting across the living room.

Except not this year. Look at how they massacred my boy.

There will be just one game from England’s top flight on the day after Christmas this year. One, and it’s pretty late in the day. The Premier League says this is due to a fixture pileup tied to the expansion of UEFA competitions. Somehow, the very real problem of an overstuffed football calendar means there can’t be more than one match on Friday. For the first time in recorded history, the football authorities are making decisions in the interest of player welfare — so they say — to give the players more time to rest between matches.

Meanwhile, only four top-flight teams have played since last Sunday: Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, and Fulham. When they play this weekend, most teams will be on six or seven days’ rest. There’s also a whole slate of midweek matches next week — 12 Premier League teams will play on Tuesday — meaning many teams would have had more rest between matches in this Festive Period if they’d played on Friday, Boxing Day.1

The powers that be really couldn’t throw a few more matches on the dear ol’ 26th? Even just three or four would see us through and deliver us from the Christmas hangover, chase away the creeping end-of-year existential dread. But we’re begging at this point, very much in vain. We’ve come an awful long way from that famous Boxing Day in 1963, when 20 top-flight teams were in action and bashed in 66 goals between them.

Anyway, we’ll have to make our own Boxing Day now that the authorities have betrayed us. The Premier League will need some backup from the Championship and the Africa Cup of Nations, now in full effect.

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Oh, and Merry Christmas to you and yours! Thanks for being with us here at The Football Weekend.

You can gift a football fan in your life one year of the Weekend for 33% off right now. Happy holidays!

GIFT ONE 🎁

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We’ll start our improvised Boxing Day with MILLWALL vs IPSWICH TOWN, sixth hosting third in the Championship at 8 am ET / 1 pm UK. Both these clubs are very much in the promotion conversation, with Ipswich looking to bounce back up into the Premier League after relegation last season and Millwall seeking a first campaign in the top flight since 1990.

Then it’s down to Morocco for some AFCON, as EGYPT face SOUTH AFRICA at 10 am ET / 3 pm UK in a battle of Africa’s best. When he came on The Football Weekend to guide us through African World Cup qualifying, Maher Mezahi said South Africa is the rising team on the continent with a whole crew of players who are together at club level with Mamelodi Sundowns. Egypt, of course, are Egypt. Mo Salah is scoring, and they’re surely among the favorites if he keeps it up. Whoever wins here will take control of Group B.

The 12:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm UK window is suboptimal — thanks again, authorities — but you could check in on the nouveau FC Hollywood, WREXHAM, as they host SHEFFIELD UNITED. The latter have been surprisingly poor this season, as Premier League parachute payments have not been enough to keep them among the yo-yo clubs seeking promotion back to the big time. As for Wrexham, they’ve been disappointing if you truly believed they’d cakewalk their way through another division of the English league pyramid. As an alternative, there’s ZAMBIA vs COMOROS if you want some niche AFCON.

For some more mainstream fare from Africa’s continental sweepstakes, MOROCCO will face MALI at 3 pm ET / 8 pm UK. But the premier offering in that match window is the only Premier League match of the day: MANCHESTER UNITED vs NEWCASTLE UNITED. For some reason, this fixture sticks in my mind as one of my earliest memories of watching English football. 20 years ago, the commentator made some crack about “United v United,” and I never forgot it.

That was back when Manchester United were top of the world, or at least doing battle on the mountaintop every season. Their trajectory ever since has been down, and they haven’t been skiing. It’s been more like tumbling, head over haunches, back to earth. Sir Alex Ferguson is the ghost of Boxing Day past, lurking in the Old Trafford stands to remind a succession of current managers what the halcyon days looked like, and now it falls on Ruben Amorim to stop the tumble and get the club competitive again.

They are three points off the Top Four, to be fair, and three points clear of Newcastle down in 11th. It’s a testament to the parity of the league this season, and while the Magpies have suffered some bad results as they try to juggle domestic and Champions League commitments, they have every chance of competing for those European places once again. They’ll bring their share of injury concerns to Manchester, but their hosts have it worse: Bruno Fernandes pulled up with a hamstring problem during Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, and the Red Devils will need to find a way to win on Boxing Day without their difference-maker-in-chief.

With AFCON firing on all cylinders, it’s a good time to listen back to that chat with Maher Mezahi, a football journalist based in Algiers who hosts the African Five-a-Side podcast:

Chatting with Maher, I learned a ton about football on the African continent in 2025, including why some traditional powers like Nigeria are struggling:

There was also such an interesting window into how lobbying for changes to FIFA’s eligibility rules has allowed North African nations in particular to draw on their diasporas in Europe.

Whatever you’re watching on Boxing Day, I hope it’s a world-class couch session nestled into a warm and wonderful holiday week with friends and family. This world challenges us each and every day, but perhaps a little less this week. Thanks for spending a bit of it here with the Weekend.

Please excuse the navel-gazing, but a lot of new readers have joined up over the last month or two and they might have missed out on past exploits!

It’s been an eventful year, starting with a new series that launched in January…

CATHEDRALS

On-the-ground reports from the world’s great stadiums.

It all began on Merseyside with a visit to Goodison Park, which I was desperate to get to before the place closed for good. Everton ultimately decided to keep it alive as a venue for the women’s team, but it will be difficult to replicate the brilliant atmosphere I found that day in the Gwladys Street End:

On both occasions, I had to crane my head around a royal blue pillar — and the cresting waves of others’ heads and limbs in front of me — to see what happened. From a seat deep in the stand behind the goal, under the overhang of the second tier above, you could still just about see events at the far end — where Everton were banging in their first-half goals — if you found that sweet spot, that letterbox window through the madness. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

This is life in the back of the Gwladys Street, the beating heart of Everton Football Club’s home support. And it’s life at Goodison Park, their idiosyncratic base since 1892 where around 10 percent of the seats have Obstructed Views, and where time is running out.

You can check the story out in full here:

Then it was over to Anfield across town for a Champions League night under the lights. While speaking with people in and around Liverpool, I learned about the history of this football temple and found a few folks asking whether its famous atmosphere had changed.

“What is really interesting about it is the BBC guy who’s fronting the report,” said John Williams, author of Red Men: Liverpool Football Club, The Biography. “He’s talking about the crowd like he would talk about some tribe in the South Pacific. As if they’re completely weird and strange, and somehow completely non-English. And in a way, he’s kind of right. Because the Liverpool crowd, particularly — more than Everton, I think — has a deep-seated Irish oral culture at the heart of it. It wasn’t very English [at the time] to sing songs collectively like this.”

You can check this one out in full here:

And in the spring, I got out to Bologna to visit the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, which turned out to be a fascinating layer cake of contradictions:

“Bologna is basically a left-wing city,” [Corriere di Bologna editor-in-chief Olivio] Romanini said. “For years, it was the capital of the Italian left. It is called, ‘The Fat, the Learned, and the Red,’ and therefore it’s a contradiction that its stadium is of fascist origin.”

Check that one out here:

If you’d like to help make more of this on-the-ground reporting happen, you can become a member of The Football Weekend for the price of a pint each month.

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That’ll also get you full access to the archive of …

FEATURES

The best of The Football Weekend’s magazine-style journalism.

Like a conversation with Clint Dempsey back in January.

I’d interviewed him for a GQ story I did on Christian Pulisic, but I had some great material left over on Dempsey’s own career and American players in Europe. Get the full Q&A here:

There was also a chat with Liverpool and Real Madrid legend Steve McManaman about his time with the Galácticos:

You went to Madrid before the Galáctico era. Was there a moment when you looked around the dressing room and realized things had changed, that the galaxy of stars had arrived? Did it feel different?

No, you know what? Weirdly enough, it only felt different right at the end, when David [Beckham] came in…

You can get the full Q&A here:

And there were a few more on-the-ground reports in the FEATURES section…

• A Famous Night in Madrid. A Famous Day Out in New York.

• The Greatest Cup Tie of All Time

• I Watched the Brazilians Conquer Times Square

• Messi Madness in New York City

And then there was…

THE PODCAST

We were lucky to have some of the big names and great minds of world football on the show this year to preview a massive match from the weekend to come.

Legendary commentator Clive Tyldesley helped us ring in this 2025/26 season. His co-commentator on CBS/Paramount+, former England goalkeeper Rob Green, came by days before he called the Champions League final. The Athletic’s one and only Carl Anka tried to diagnose the problems plaguing Manchester United ahead of the Manchester derby. ESPN’s Bundesliga commentators Derek Rae and Stewart Robson previewed Germany’s biggest game and offered a look behind the curtain at how they record the commentary for the EA Sports FC games.

The longtime Premier League fullback and pundit Stephen Warnock clocked in ahead of a heavyweight clash between Liverpool and Manchester City. Storied Spanish football scribe Graham Hunter helped us take stock of the Madrid derby. The brilliant Laurence McKenna talked all things Liverpool ahead of their date with Newcastle United in the League Cup final. And ahead of the Championship playoff final, BBC commentator (and star of Sunderland ‘Til I Die) Nick Barnes came by to talk what Premier League promotion would mean for Sunderland — and what the Netflix series meant, too.

Stadium connoisseur and ESPN/NBC commentator Jon Champion came by ahead of calling the FA Cup final. Arseblog, Andrew Mangan, came on ahead of Arsenal’s early season crunch clash with Liverpool. Longtime USMNT and Premier League goalkeeper Brad Friedel dropped in to talk about all of that and his time in Istanbul with Galatasaray ahead of their explosive derby with Fenerbahçe.

And we kicked off the World Cup preview coverage with Felipe Cardenas, Maher Mezahi, and Jonathan Wilson.

That last one got into some Political Football, and we didn’t hold back on that elsewhere, either.

No words were minced about the Club World Cup, the FIFA World Cup draw, Juventus’s poor White House decisions, Chelsea’s shamelessness, or the ugly side of the Old Firm.

A few matches worth your time this weekend…

Bologna vs Inter

Newcastle United vs Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool

RB Leipzig vs Bayer Leverkusen

Everton vs Arsenal

Juventus vs Roma

Aston Villa vs Manchester United

Villarreal vs Barcelona

Morocco vs Comoros

Liverpool were favorites. The only question was, could Arsenal challenge them?

Just a couple of months later, Arsenal had a 67% chance to win the league according to THE OPTA SUPERCOMPUTER! Liverpool were nowhere, cooked, deceased.

And in between, you could find your friendly neighborhood Substacker and Stephen Warnock, ex-Premier League fullback, agreeing sagely that Manchester City didn’t have the personnel to compete for the title this year. We doubted Chelsea’s credentials, too, and that may well hold up. But while I’d still back Warnock’s assessment that City don’t have “the same quality of players that they had four or five years ago,” we were both dead wrong with the idea that Arsenal and Liverpool would be a class above them.

In fact, there’s a whole new world of narrative we’re living in now. The scriptwriters are mailing it in with a reboot of 2022/23 — or is it 23/24 — where Arsenal start off hot but run out of steam, chased down by Pep Guardiola’s relentless predators in Sky Blue shirts. Mikel Arteta and his Gunners are young, combustible, emotional, and ultimately fragile, or so the story goes. The Citizens are coldly consistent, preparing for their customary 14 league wins in a row to signal the second half of the season is here and it’s all getting serious.

Except we should know better by now than to latch onto facile narratives. Who predicted that Aston Villa would be in the title conversation as the Festive Fixtures approach? For the record, I don’t really believe they are — or at least that they’ll be there come April. But they are there right now, they’ve beaten both Arsenal and City, and in a twist of scheduling fate, they’re set to play the North Londoners again at the end of the month.1 They’ve also got Chelsea, the would-be title challengers who’ve sunk down to fifth, at Stamford Bridge, and an improving Manchester United side. We could have a good idea of whether Villa are truly in or out by New Years. Or maybe there are still more twists than that to come for Unai Emery’s men.

Meanwhile, the defending champions who spent 20 bajillion pounds in the summer to confirm themselves as firm favorites are 10th. Every game for Liverpool seems to be a referendum on the manager, Arne Slot, and last season’s star — and one of the club’s greatest-ever players — is in open revolt. While everybody was writing Liverpool’s victory story before a ball was kicked, marveling at the addition of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike and (shortly into the season) what looked like the cheat code signing of Alexander Isak, few were pointing out that it wasn’t inevitable that Mo Salah and Virgil Van Dijk would replicate the same performance levels in this campaign.

Readers of The Football Weekend might have heard mention of that — or that there was zero evidence Liverpool had actually improved at the fullback positions — but this was not a popular narrative in those warm and sunny days of late summer and early autumn.

And again, I thought this would be a Liverpool-Arsenal title race like pretty much everybody else. I thought the three newly promoted sides would go straight back down like everybody else, only to watch Sunderland start this season shot out of a cannon. The Black Cats are coming back to earth now, just in time for a visit from their hated local rivals — more on that below — but the hard truth remains: None of us knows anything. Nobody knows nothin’. Crystal Palace are in the Top Four, Everton are two points off them, and Liverpool are even with Sunderland and Brighton on 23 points.

The wildest bit is, with a decent run of form, the champions could zip up into the Champions League places with minimal fuss. They’re three points off Palace. They’re still only 10 points off Arsenal, and there are 69 points left to play for.

Which is to say: Cling to your chosen Narrative at your own peril. The new one seems to be that Arsenal can’t win big matches, despite their run of 22 against the Top Six without defeat that only ended with that Dominik Szoboszlai wonderfreekick to snatch all three points for Liverpool in a closely contested match at Anfield on the last day of August. (They won 13 of those 22 games, nearly 60%, but they could be better.) Arsenal’s away record in these fixtures isn’t great, and this title race might well come down to their trip to the Etihad on April 18, but what’s really killed them in recent years is dropping points against The Others. That includes Villa, but it also includes teams like West Ham.

Those are the kinds of matches that City have been losing this season. Newcastle, Brighton, and Tottenham have all beaten Guardiola’s side so far in addition to the aforementioned Villa, and they’re conceding a lot of goals even in victory. The 5-4 over Fulham at the beginning of this month was a good example, and City have conceded more goals generally than any other team in the Top Five. This might improve, or maybe they can just keep winning every shootout with Erling Haaland as their Top Gun, but it does not suggest juggernaut status is imminent.

Arsenal are the outstanding defensive team in the league, and they’re starting to score more goals — and not just from set pieces, a big setback for the laziest Narrativizers.2 Their biggest unknown is their injury record, for which Arteta will at some point have to answer.3 If Arsenal cannot keep their best players fit, they probably won’t win the league, and the two most important in that regard are their world-best center backs. William Saliba and Gabriel must find fitness, and Arsenal just can’t lose a new player every week like they have been.

That’s the kind of unknown that makes predictions impossible at this point, and which lays bare the absurdity of The Supercomputer and its 67%. Nobody knows. Enjoy the ride! Analyze where you can. We’ll all have the answers come May.

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Speaking of Arsenal and Liverpool and all that, here’s a classic clip from the podcast featuring Andrew Mangan of Arseblog:

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

LIVERPOOL vs BRIGHTON

Sat @ 10am ET, 3pm UK

The hosts stopped the rot this week with a 1-0 victory over Inter away at the San Siro, and Arne Slot will be hoping it’s the dawn of a new season for Liverpool. The one they’re in so far has not been pretty: They’re 10th in the league, even on points with Brighton but two places behind their guests thanks to a zero goal difference. This is another test, though the visitors are in some indifferent form. They failed to beat West Ham last time out!

There’s also CHELSEA vs EVERTON in this window, fifth against seventh with one point between them. David Moyes and his outfit have quietly won four of their last five, while Chelsea haven’t tasted victory in the league since November 22.

BURNLEY vs FULHAM

Sat @ 12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK

This is a regulation scrapper, even if Fulham look a class above the true drop candidates. Burnley have lost eight of their last 10 and look like the candidate among the three newly promoted clubs most likely to yo-yo. They need a result, or the trapdoor will truly start to open beneath them.

SUNDERLAND vs NEWCASTLE

Sun @ 11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK

When these two last met in the FA Cup Third Round back in January 2024, Newcastle fans were required by the authorities to take a special bus service to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light. “Anyone who is intent on using the game as an excuse to cause trouble” should know “that this will not be tolerated,” the Northumbria police added in a statement. There was another indication of just what a police priority this one is with a video that went viral this week:

This is the Tyne-Wear Derby, named for the rivers that run through Newcastle and Sunderland respectively. The beef goes well beyond football, by The Guardian’s account, with roots that stretch back to the 17th century. There was a dispute over royal trading rights for coal that ultimately put these two towns, 12 miles apart, on opposite sides of the English Civil War. Newcastle, whose traders had consistently been granted trading rights, sided with King Charles I. Sunderland, which had been spurned by the king and economically battered as a result, went with Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. There was even a battle on a field between the two cities, with Sunderland and its Scottish allies seizing victory — and eventually the town of Newcastle.

The football side of this feud kicked off in the 1880s, and plenty more blood has been spilled since. It’s also been remarkably even: That January 2024 encounter was the 156th meeting between these two, and Newcastle’s 3-0 victory was their 54th triumph. Sunderland have won 53, and while their opponents here have had all the big-money investment and the Champions League football in recent years, it’s the Black Cats who started this Premier League season so strongly.

They’ve slid down to ninth now, just a point clear of the visiting Magpies, and they might just feel the cold chill of reality setting in. Still, they’ve won six of the last seven league meetings between these titans of the North East, and they haven’t lost one since 2011.

As an alternative in the same window, there’s also NOTTINGHAM FOREST vs TOTTENHAM, or a Top Four clash between CRYSTAL PALACE and MANCHESTER CITY.

BOLOGNA vs JUVENTUS

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:30pm UK

The hosts are having a great season so far and will welcome the mighty Old Lady to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara with two points between them. This is the fixture I got to see when I visited Bologna in the spring, when these two were duking it out for a Champions League place. This time, Juventus come in two points behind and struggling for consistency. They’re still only eight points off AC Milan at the top, however, as Serie A is a wild jumble of good teams this year. Best to tune in.

If you want to witness the possible demise of Xabi Alonso, though, DEPORTIVO ALAVÉS vs REAL MADRID kicks off 15 minutes later. A decent showing against Manchester City in the Champions League this week might have bought the Madrid boss some time, but after defeat to Celta Vigo last weekend and poor results against Girona, Elche, and Rayo Vallecano in the weeks prior, another bad one here could see Alonso on his way out.

“Dignity for the weak in the arms of the brave,” Robbie Williams crooned. He appeared on stage following a commercial break after an opening segment to the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony that was downright astonishing: Nothing happened1, and everything was revealed.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino went on at length, apparently under the impression that we’d all tuned in to see him. There was a call-and-response section with the Kennedy Center audience: “U-S-A!” “CA-NA-DA.” Then we got some Ford F-150 commercials, and then Williams and Nicole Scherzinger showed up singing.

“We know who we are and what must be done,” they continued. “Despite the fury, the hope, the hate/If the devil rides, we will make him wait/Love is the law and it’s raging like a fire…”

What the hell were they even on about? The Genius lyrics have a helpful guide2:

“This is a grand, almost biblical opening line—immediately invoking themes of justice and protection. It suggests a world where the strong protect the vulnerable, a common motif in FIFA campaigns promoting equality and human rights through football. ‘Dignity for the weak’ aligns with FIFA’s advocacy for underrepresented communities: refugees, children in poverty…”

And then they finished, and Kevin Hart came out and declared it “a song for the summer.” Then they gave Donald Trump, the famous advocate for refugees, the Nobel Peace Prize.

It was well deserved for the man raining peace in the Caribbean as we speak. He took the medal out of the box himself with a half-smirk and put it around his own neck, standing next to a large gold trophy with five human hands reaching upward from the base, grasping at a globe. The palms were nearly as big as the planet, big enough that any one of them looked like it could get a nice grip of the thing if given half a chance. And all of them together?

The photos flashed in my mind’s eye in the moment: Infantino grinning next to kings of countries where citizens are not allowed to criticize the government. Infantino grinning next to presidents who think that whole arrangement is a great way of doing things.

The FIFA chief unleashed a monologue about Trump’s peacemaking as he stood newly medaled a few feet away3. “We want to see unity,” Infantino said while praising the notorious unifier. Then it was the American president’s turn, and he ran through the finer details of his own greatness before throwing a bit of praise back the other way for the man he seemed to be calling, “Johnny.”

“He’s set new records for ticket sales,” Trump said in his Peace Prize acceptance speech. “Not to bring that up, because we don’t want to bring that up right now.”

This was an admirably honest statement on the new order of things. Everything is a transaction now, particularly in the country where this event took place, and any talk of moral commitments or higher callings is a fig leaf. It’s a veneer so thin as to make a mockery of the whole business, delivered with a wink and a smirk. Of course we have no ethics. Of course it’s all for sale, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Just sit back and watch. Soon enough, you’ll be required to cheer.

There was a time that FIFA had a corruption problem. Cash in manila envelopes, deals under the table. There was undoubtedly, each time the World Cup was staged, some graft and tomfoolery going on in the host countries, even around beautiful tournaments like South Africa in 2010 or Brazil in 2014. There were flaws, but the mischief was mostly swept under the rug. It was unseemly, gauche, to move the dollar bills out in the open. The appearance of propriety was considered necessary.

These were the times of Sepp Blatter, FIFA chief, who by the end of his tenure was considered a bona fide scourge on football. He escaped criminal charges, but the rampant corruption beneath him in the organization is not in dispute after a wide-ranging investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, among others. Blatter was showered in cash on-stage by a prankster and eventually forced out of FIFA, replaced by Infantino.

What really doomed Ol’ Sepp was the awarding of the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 edition to Qatar, all in one sitting. When the details around that came to light, he had to go, and yet it merely represented the dawn of a new era that would outlast him. It was the end of the closed-doors, under-the-table stuff. This was brazen, shameless, out in the open.

Nobody has to ask why the 2034 World Cup went where it went. Some are afraid to say it plainly, but mostly it just feels unnecessary. FIFA has a rule that World Cup hosting privileges must rotate around the different continents so it’s truly a global event. Then somehow — thanks to the 2030 edition going to three different continents at once, thereby taking Europe, Africa, and South America off the board for 2034 — the tournament will be held on the Arabian peninsula for a second time in 12 years. The process for this decision was extra-ordinary, to say the least. Then, when FIFA had no broadcaster for the Club World Cup, DAZN showed up with $1 billion and the Saudi Public Investment Fund showed up with $1 billion for DAZN.

Again, it was like they wanted you to know how it all happened, and they wanted you to know there was nothing you could do about it. That it was all about the money, and the power, and who was throwing all that weight around. Of course there’s an official FIFA ticket resale platform with no limits on prices, where this non-profit entity is taking a 30% cut of those hefty scalper profits. Of course favored players get their inconvenient suspensions suspended. What are you gonna do about it?

Maybe, as the Blatter era indicates, all this stuff was always for sale. But maybe there was value in the genuine attempt back then to obscure it. This brazenness, it’s corrosive. We need our myths, our tales of justice. I can tell you as an American. Huge sections of our society — even some who don’t support the current regime — have now bought into the idea that it’s time we all stop pretending we care about anything else and start grabbing for the money. Meanwhile, bigger hands are grabbing for the globe.

Because “Johnny” seems to have learned a thing or two from his friends: Go outlandish with it, be shameless, do it fast, just do it, who will stop you? He’s assembled a bit of a crew, you see, the ones from all those pictures, and they love to operate behind the veil, the one so thin that it’s designed to cultivate a feeling of powerlessness as the Big Grab unfolds in front of you at formidable speed.

When his predecessor did whatever it is he did, it just felt different. Blatter was at least, as Jonathan Wilson put it on the podcast last month, “a football person,” a genuine lover of the game, a “bizarrely idealistic” believer in its human potential. When Infantino speaks about any of these things, he doesn’t believe it, you don’t believe him, he knows it, you know it, and none of it seems to matter. It’s paralyzing, whereas Blatter’s crooked blunders felt … galvanizing, even for his opposition. He stained the game, and it needed dry cleaning. Then his successor declared the whole garment stain-colored.

And at the very — very — least, Blatter didn’t spend such a large percentage of his time palling around with kings and wannabes on camera, offering football’s blessing to despotism. That’s got to count for something. And at least back then, we had “Waka Waka.”

This week on the podcast, our guest is journalist David Novo from Portugal’s Record newspaper. He joins to help us preview the Dérbi de Lisboa, as Benfica host Sporting CP in a battle for bragging rights in the Portuguese capital. Together with Porto — from the town of the same name that’s further north along the Atlantic coast — they make up the Big Three clubs in this nation of under 11 million people that punches far above its weight on the global football stage.

In this episode, we got into how exactly Portugal (and these clubs in particular) produce so many fantastic players. We traced some of the history of this rivalry, including the crucial intervention of the legendary Eusébio, who turned the tide after years of Sporting dominance to deliver Benfica into a new era in the 1960s. We also talked over the return of José Mourinho to Portuguese football, with the Special One now coaching Benfica after all his years of massive success with Porto and across Europe.

Finally, David offered some intel on where to eat and drink if you’re going to the Estádio da Luz — where this one will be played on Friday — or the nearby Estádio José Alvalade, Sporting’s home base:

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

The 2026 World Cup Draw

Fri @ 12pm ET, 5pm UK

You’ll have to put up with some unsavory scenes, no doubt about it, but we all wanna know who’s playing whom next summer.

ASTON VILLA vs ARSENAL

Sat @ 7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK

Two teams in fine form, and with a whole lot of recent history.

Villa brushed off a couple of sketchy Brighton goals and stormed back to win 4-3 in midweek. Now they’re third in the league. They’ve also got a decent record against Arsenal over the last couple of years, taking seven of the last 12 points available in these head-to-heads. You know that Unai Emery enjoyed beating his successor as Arsenal manager twice in the 2023/24 season, which was enough to deny Mikel Arteta’s side the title at the end of that campaign.

The top-of-the-table Gunners will travel to Villa Park knowing a serious test is in store. Plus, Ollie Watkins — heavily linked to Arsenal last season — just crackled back to life with two goals in midweek after a miserable barren spell. The injuries are biting the visitors, with a crisis developing at center back, so the Arsenal will need to dig deep here in what should be a formidable atmosphere.

TOTTENHAM vs BRENTFORD

Sat @ 10am ET, 3pm UK

It’s the Thomas Frank derby, though many Tottenham fans seem increasingly eager to give the man back. Spurs have not won a football match since November 4, and they’ve still won just once at home all season in the league. Brentford have been up and down, but they gave Tottenham’s arch rivals Arsenal a decent game in midweek. They might just smell their ex-manager’s blood in the water here.

Or, in the same window, you can watch SUNDERLAND continue a difficult extended roadtrip as they travel to MANCHESTER CITY after a strong showing against Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday.

LEEDS UNITED vs LIVERPOOL

Sat @ 12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK

Having dismantled Chelsea in midweek at Elland Road, Leeds now welcome Liverpool with reasonable belief they can stage a repeat. The visitors are the walking wounded at the moment, scrounging out a draw with Sunderland on Wednesday after another poor performance that easily could have earned them a third-straight defeat at Anfield in all competitions. Arne Slot has his work cut out for him here.

Alternately, INTER vs COMO is an intriguing clash of third and fifth in Serie A that kicks off half an hour earlier. The visitors are looking like proper upstarts under manager Cesc Fàbregas, running with the big dogs. There’s also REAL BETIS vs BARCELONA at the very same time as Leeds-Liverpool. That’s first against fifth in La Liga.

MESSI vs MÜLLER IN THE MLS CUP FINAL

Sat @ 2:30pm ET, 7:30pm UK

It’s like the 2014 World Cup final, except a whole lot bigger. INTER MIAMI face VANCOUVER in Major League Soccer’s showpiece match, and each side will contain literal legends of the world’s game. Luis Suárez has been missing for Miami, and many will tell you they’ve been better without him as some guy named Lionel Messi has taken up a central role. Suárez should be back for this one, even if he won’t start, and certainly Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba and Rodrigo De Paul will be involved.

And then there’s Thomas Müller on the other side, the 13-time German champion, two-time Champions League winner, and defeater of Messi and Argentina in that 2014 World Cup finale. All these big shots might be deep into their 30s at this point, but you’ve got to say this is MLS at its best.

FULHAM vs CRYSTAL PALACE

Sun @ 11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK

It’s a London derby at Craven Cottage, just one of those games you get a feeling about.

Fulham started the season extremely poorly but have started to put a thing or two together. They put four past Manchester City on Wednesday and that wasn’t enough to win, a decent signal that there could be goals here even if Palace’s defensive record is outstanding: with just 11 goals conceded in 14 matches, they’re behind only Arsenal as the league’s best without the ball.

NAPOLI vs JUVENTUS

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

It’s not been a vintage season for Juventus thus far, as the Old Lady have sunk to seventh after a couple of defeats in October and some draws in November. Still, they’re just five points back from joint league-leaders AC Milan and Napoli, the latter of whom will host them at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona this weekend. The defending champions have had some tumultuous moments already this season under the Vesuvius-adjacent Antonio Conte, but they’re pretty much on-track to retain their crown, and days like this will be crucial to that.

When I first started watching the Premier League back in 2006 and 2007, there were only a handful of Americans plying their trade in England’s first division: Brian McBride at Fulham, Claudio Reyna at Manchester City … and then there was Brad Friedel.

An Ohio native, he played his college ball at UCLA before heading over to Europe. He eventually joined Liverpool for a stint, then embarked on a career-defining spell at Blackburn Rovers. He also stopped shots for Aston Villa and for Tottenham Hotspur, where in his final season he ran into a guy named Mauricio Pochettino. Friedel, who was capped 82 times for the U.S. Men’s National Team, got a front row seat to the Argentine’s methods when he came in and transformed Spurs, and Friedel’s faith has never wavered that Pochettino will deliver now as head coach of the USMNT.

We talked about all that when Friedel joined the show this Thanksgiving week, but we also got into a fascinating early chapter of his career. In 1995, he went off to Istanbul to play for Graeme Souness at Galatasaray. Along the way, he got a taste of one of the world’s most combustible football derbies: Galatasaray against Fenerbahçe, the battle of Istanbul.

Ahead of the latest edition this coming Monday, Friedel explained how failure to win this match could get you banned from a local restaurant. He also told some stories from his times with Brian Clough and Kevin Keegan:

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

SUNDERLAND vs BOURNEMOUTH

Sat @ 10am ET, 3pm UK

This is an unlikely meeting of seventh and eighth in the Premier League after 12 matches. Well, Bournemouth have pretty much established themselves in these lofty precincts, but Sunderland started the season shot out of a cannon and may just be coming back down to earth.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Sat @ 12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK

Third against fourth in the Bundesliga, with Leverkusen coming off an away-day demolition of Manchester City in the Champions League this week while Dortmund dismantled 10-man Villareal. These two are well off Bayern Munich’s frenetic pace at the top of the table, but are they beginning to click into some form?

TOTTENHAM vs FULHAM

Sat @ 3pm ET, 8pm UK

When there’s a Premier League late game on a Saturday, we recommend it. For North American viewers especially, a 3pm slot is top. Plus, it’s a London derby, and Tottenham’s home record has been poor so far under Thomas Frank: They haven’t won on their own patch in the league since Matchweek 1. There might be opportunity here for Fulham.

PALMEIRAS vs FLAMENGO

Sat @ 4pm ET, 9pm UK

It’s the Copa Libertadores final, as teams from São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro face off in Lima, Peru to determine who will be champions of South America. Incredibly, five of the last seven finals have been all-Brazilian affairs.

Both of these clubs have won this tournament three times — Palmeiras have won two of the last four, an emerging dynasty — and they occupy the top two spots in the Brazilian Serie A table. Flamengo, currently five points clear domestically, are on the cusp of a league-and-continental double.

INTER MIAMI vs NYCFC

Sat @ 6pm ET, 11pm UK

It’s Lionel Messi and Co. in the Eastern Conference finals. The MLS Cup may not be the most prestigious trophy they’ll have added to their cabinets — between them, Messi, Sergio Busquets, Luís Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Rodrigo De Paul have nine Champions League medals and three World Cup golds — but they’ll want to stamp their authority on this competition. Plus, this would be Busquets’ last-ever game if they lose.

This is shaping up to be attack vs. defense, with Miami smacking in 12 goals in four games during these MLS playoffs. NYC have conceded just once so far.

WEST HAM vs LIVERPOOL

Sun @ 9:05am ET, 2:05pm UK

Liverpool are going through it, no doubt about it. They’ve lost three in a row across the league and Champions League and shipped 10 goals along the way. The last seven of those were at Anfield!

Arne Slot must find a way to stop the bleeding, or he could be party to one of the more improbable managerial sackings of all time. Six months ago he was a title-winning hero, but defeat to lowly West Ham could legitimately do him in.

CHELSEA vs ARSENAL

Sun @ 11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK

It’s another London derby for Arsenal in the space of eight days after they brushed aside Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday. This one is just as bitter — I’m one of those Arsenal fans who hates Chelsea just as much or more than Spurs — and it has the added table stakes of a title contest.

The hosts have snuck up into second with Manchester City and Liverpool drifting, and at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca will believe he can strike a telling blow against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. Both of these teams enjoyed statement victories over premier continental opposition in midweek, trouncing Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively in the Champions League, so this one’s shaping up as a truly top-shelf affair.

ROMA vs NAPOLI

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

Good Lord, there are a lot of good matches this week. We round out our highly watchable slate with a title clash down in Italy, where Roma are top of the table under Gian Piero Gasperini. The capital side have not been blowing teams away, but they’ve been grinding out those results, keeping clean sheets and getting a second goal when the opposition gets one.

Time will tell if that’s sustainable across the season, and this one ought to be a decent barometer. The defending champions are coming to town, but Antonio Conte’s team are third after tasting defeat at Bologna’s Stadio Renato dall’Ara earlier this month. It’s a mob scene at the top of Serie A right now, with five teams within three points of each other, but it could all shift mightily with a single result — like whatever we get here.

In 1922, Arsenal manager Leslie Knighton, captain Bill Blyth, and goalkeeper Steve Dunn were hauled before a Football Association commission. They arrived for the hearing in three-piece suits and fedoras. Tottenham Hotspur’s Jimmy Seed, Bert Bliss and Alex Lindsay were there, too, clad in their trenches and top coats.

They were summoned following a “vicious and bitter” match between the two sides that featured a punch, a brawl, and a series of violent fouls. Multiple Tottenham players went off injured, and a Spurs goal was (by some accounts) ruled out for offside then ruled back in as the crowd at White Hart Lane bayed in fury. According to one (perhaps apocryphal) report, Dunn grabbed hold of the referee and shook him after the Spurs goal was allowed, behaving “like a man demented.” One newspaper reporter described it as “the most disgusting scenes” he’d ever witnessed.

It was a landmark exhibition of the tribal hatred that had swelled between the two factions following Arsenal’s move across the River Thames to Tottenham’s North London neighborhood in 1913. Spurs clocked their new neighbors as a threat immediately, but the ugliness really blossomed when, after the Football League was suspended for World War I, Arsenal politicked a vote amongst the league’s shot-callers in 1919 and got themselves into the re-forming First Division at Tottenham’s expense. Accusations have flown for a century and more that Sir Henry Norris, the well-connected construction magnate who took Woolwich Arsenal across the river to become kings of London, went above and beyond to influence the vote.

That vicious bitterness has hardly faded in the 103 years since that match at the Lane. Anyone who dared cross the divide, be it George Graham or Sol Campbell, was branded Judas Iscariot. For most of that century, Arsenal were the superior side, the 13-times champions of England. Tottenham have been waiting for their third English league title since 1961, but there was a period — those halcyon days under Mauricio Pochettino — when they took control of North London and even got to a Champions League final. More importantly, they finished above Arsenal six seasons in a row.

Those days are long gone now, deep in the rearview behind the managerial reigns of José Mourinho and Nuno Espírito Santo and Antonio Conte and Ange Postecoglou. Those tenures all ended in rancor and disappointment — even Big Ange with his unlikely Europa League triumph on his way out the door.

It’s Arsenal who’ve risen again in recent years, competing at the top end of the English and European game.1 They’ve taken more points in the league than Tottenham every season since 2022. Gooners celebrate the annual moment that Spurs mathematically can’t catch them as “St. Totteringham’s Day,” and it’s been helpful to that pursuit that Mikel Arteta’s side have dominated these head-to-head encounters. Tottenham have won just one of nine derbies since 2021, and Arsenal have taken seven of those. Spurs have not tasted victory away in league play at the Emirates Stadium, where this edition will go down, since November 2010.

But that Emirates pitch was also the stage for Arsenal tragedy this past week — and during an international break. Brazil like to take their Harlem Globetrotters show on the road once they’ve wrapped up qualifying for a World Cup, and the Seleção were in North London on Saturday for a friendly with Senegal. Gabriel, the towering Arsenal center half, is finally a regular for his nation under newish manager Carlo Ancelotti, but he came up lame in the 65th minute and could be out for as much as two months with an upper leg injury.

He was man of the match in the last two North London derby encounters, but he’ll miss this one. It’s a brutal blow for an Arsenal team that have weathered a wild injury list through this first third of the season to stay top of the league. Martin Ødegaard, Kai Havertz, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyökeres: they’ve all missed time, but none are as important to Arteta’s Arsenal as Gabriel. He’s a dominant presence in both boxes — his goal threat is part of what earned him those man-of-the-match awards in the last two NLDs — and possibly the best defender in England. He might be the best in Europe.2

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank will relish the opportunity to attack an Arsenal team that’s without him. The Dane’s Brentford sides always leaned into direct play and the physical side of the game, and he’s brought a pragmatism to Spurs that constitutes a radical departure from Postecoglou’s pie-in-the-sky philosophical doctrine. The Australian had a bit of the Arsène Wenger in his absolute commitment to His Way, of playing-like-we-play-no-matter-who-we’re-playing, but Frank will be working ‘round-the-clock this week to tailor Tottenham’s approach to their opponents here. Like his counterpart on the touchline this weekend, Frank’s philosophy is to accumulate points.

Maybe this North London derby will end up a long-throw-in-off, a set-piece spectacular that will have few neutrals yelling, “Spectacular!” That’s certainly been the rote criticism of Arsenal and the Premier League more generally this season. These are never free-flowing encounters throughout — there’s too much on the line, too much fear and anxiety flowing down the stands onto the pitch, a palpable sense that death would be preferable to defeat. At least then you wouldn’t have to face that guy at the office on Monday morning.

That local thing is why I’ve said before I’ll probably never hate Tottenham like true North London Arsenal fans hate Tottenham. I hate Chelsea and Manchester United just as much or more for the pain they dealt me in the late 2000s, when I was coming of age as a fan. But I know how important this match is to my fellow travelers, and to be fair, I still despise the fucking Spurs.

I was there for the Poch years, for Emmanuel Adebayor’s antics, for David Bentley and Danny Rose and Harry Kane. I’ve lived the scuffles and shoving matches and the disastrous defeats, cheered with a full voice when we’ve put them down on their turf and on ours. I’ve never seen anything quite like what’s in those news reports from 1922, but that’s why we watch, isn’t it?

Arsenal need to win every match with Manchester City lurking a few points behind them, Tottenham need to win any match against Arsenal, and Spurs can even vault themselves into the vicinity of the title race if they can strike a decisive blow here. It might be scrappy, it might be physical, it might never find a flow or a fine finesse, it might turn on an own goal or a corner. But it’s not to be missed.

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

BURNLEY vs CHELSEA

Sat @ 7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK

This one just feels like the kind of match that this Chelsea team will lose if they’re unserious about competing at the top of the table. They dropped plenty of games like these in the second half of last season, and Enzo Maresca will be desperate to register three points ahead of heavyweight bouts with FC Barcelona and Arsenal in the space of a week.

BARCELONA vs ATHLETIC CLUB

Sat @ 10:15am ET, 3:15pm UK

Here’s one out of the loftier precincts of La Liga, though Athletic Club have sunk to seventh after defeats to Getafe and (crucially) their Basque rivals Real Sociedad. Athletic followed that up with a slender 1-0 victory over lowly Real Oviedo, rooted to the bottom of the table, but these are not boom times for the Lions. The last thing they need is a trip to FC Barcelona, much less a trip to the brand new Camp Nou.

Yes, after more than 900 days, the Blaugrana will return to their legendary home for the first time following a typically chaotic renovation that’s still not finished. Can Barça re-inaugurate the place in style and keep pace with Real Madrid at the top of the table?

If you’re more Premier League-minded, there’s a slew of fixtures kicking off 15 minutes earlier on Saturday morning. Personally, I’d go for BRIGHTON vs BRENTFORD, a battle of two English middle-class strivers. But SUNDERLAND should get a good test heading to Craven Cottage to face FULHAM, and LIVERPOOL need to right the ship — so what better than a home match at Anfield against Ange Postecoglou’s NOTTINGHAM FOREST?

NEWCASTLE vs MAN CITY

Sat @ 12:30pm ET, 5:30pm UK

Manchester City bludgeoned Liverpool heading into the international break and sent the defending champions spinning out of the title race, at least for now. Pep Guardiola’s side have now placed themselves firmly in contention — and in a position the Catalan managerial maestro loves to occupy: Lurking in Arsenal’s rearview mirror.

The Citizens are getting results and playing better stuff than they have in some time, though they still lack that machine ruthlessness of two seasons ago. Rodri is still to return, which could be the key, but so will be fixtures like this. Nobody likes a trip to St. James’ Park, even when Newcastle are mired in 14th having dropped three of their last four games in the league. Eddie Howe will have a plan, but can he truly match wits with Guardiola here?

LEEDS UNITED vs ASTON VILLA

Sun @ 9am ET, 2pm UK

There’s nothing on paper that would make this a classic match. It’s 16th in the Premier League hosting sixth. Leeds are in poor form, losing four of their last five, while Villa have rattled off five wins in their last six league matches. But at Elland Road, in front of one of England’s great noisy crowds, I just have a feeling about this one.

ARSENAL vs TOTTENHAM

Sun @ 11:30am ET, 4:30pm UK

Get the full preview above for (perhaps) England’s greatest derby match.

INTER MILAN vs AC MILAN

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

What a weekend for rivalry football, and this one doubles as a top-of-the-table bout in Serie A.

It was only a few years ago, in 2021-22, that AC Milan were champions of Italy. But the time since has been spent in the relative wilderness. Now they’re so back, thanks in no small part to stellar play from Christian Pulisic, who returned from injury just before the international break and could be fit enough to start here. The Rossoneri may or may not be playing inspiring football under Max Allegri, but they’re two points off the top of the league and unbeaten in their last 11 matches.

Two points above them? Internazionale, who’ve bounced back far more bouncily than expected after a heartbreaking 2024-25 campaign. They were inches away from a treble and ended up with nothing, prompting the departure of hugely successful manager Simone Inzaghi and a new era under the largely inexperienced Cristian Chivu. The 45-year-old Romanian won the treble with Inter as a player, though, and he has them cooking. They’re grinding out the results in both Serie A and the Champions League.

The problems have popped up in the big matches, aside from a 1-0 away win over high-flying Roma: Inter fell 3-1 to title rivals Napoli at the end of October and 4-3 to Juventus in the Derby d’Italia the month before. Can they erase all that in the Derby della Madonnina?

The World Cup is a sporting competition between national football teams to determine the best of them. But it’s always been a vessel for so much more, not least the ambitions of political leaders ranging from the mildly ethical to the downright evil. Host countries want to tell a story about themselves on the global stage, the winners make the case for their own national greatness, and then there are the millions more sagas that nobody planned for.

A new book from — columnist for The Guardian, co-host of the Libero podcast, and local Substacker — seeks to tell the very best tales from nearly 100 years of World Cup football. The Power and the Glory: The History of the World Cup is a delightful read, full of sharp insight and laugh-out-loud moments. From Benito Mussolini’s bonus trophy for the 1934 winners — the Coppa del Duce — to Diego Maradona’s supernova in 1986 to the insidious inner workings of FIFA in the modern era, it’s all there.

Wilson joins the show this week to talk a little Premier League title race before we get into his book, why Gianni Infantino’s reign as FIFA chief makes us pine for the days of Sepp Blatter, and a whole lot more.

Go get your copy of The Power and the Glory once you’ve had a listen here!

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Or check it out on Apple Podcasts ↗️

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A few matches worth your time this weekend…

ITALY vs NORWAY

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

The Italians simply hate qualifying for World Cups — they’ve missed the last two, a disaster for the four-time champions — and now they’re second in Group I heading into the final matchday of this first qualifying phase.

They’re behind Norway, who’ve scored an astonishing 33 goals in seven games. It helps to have Erling Haaland, who scored twice in their victory over Estonia on Thursday, but Alexander Sørloth also grabbed a brace there to advertise the Norwegians’ multi-pronged attacking might.

Technically, Italy could still secure automatic qualification here. They just need to win 9-0, because Norway have only conceded four goals total so far — a +29 goal difference. Regardless, it should be a quality match.

African playoff final: NIGERIA vs DR CONGO

Sun @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

The winner here will represent CAF in the intercontinental playoffs, and success there will mean a ticket to the World Cup. Nigeria saw off a Gabon side led by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Denis Bouanga in the first semifinal on Thursday, while DR Congo pulled off a slight upset a few hours later to send Cameroon packing.

That’s not to say the Democratic Republic lacks quality players, but this may be an uphill climb against Nigeria’s powerful squad. Victor Osimhen scored twice in extra time against Gabon and leads a potent front line featuring Samuel Chukwueze and Ademola Lookman. They’re backed by Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Calvin Bassey and more.

We got the full rundown on African qualifying during the last international break courtesy of Maher Mezahi:

GERMANY vs SLOVAKIA

Mon @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

Depending on how their games go later today against Luxembourg and Northern Ireland respectively, these two could be joint-top of Group A coming into this one. That would make this a straight playoff for automatic World Cup qualification, while whoever finishes second will have to go into the second round of qualifying. More playoffs!

SCOTLAND vs DENMARK

Tue @ 2:45pm ET, 7:45pm UK

These two are also tied at the top of their pile at present, each of them on 10 points at the summit of Group C. They play Greece and Belarus respectively on Saturday, but all going as expected, this will also be a straight playoff for qualification.

These are two fun squads, too. Don’t let Scott McTominay loose in Glasgow!

JAMAICA vs CURAÇAO

Tue @ 8pm ET

The hosts were top of CONCACAF Group B heading into Thursday night, but they dropped two points away at Trinidad & Tobago. Their guests here seized that opportunity.

Little Curaçao — population 156,000 — zipped up to the top of CONCACAF Group B with a 7-0 thrashing of Bermuda the same night, and now the Blue Wave can book their ticket to a first-ever World Cup for their nation with a draw at Independence Park, known as “The Office” when the Jamaican national football team is in residence.

Raheem Sterling drifted across the field in front of the Liverpool back line and picked out Leroy Sané streaking through the left channel into the box. The German took one perfect left-foot touch to set it and another to smack it skimming under Trent Alexander-Arnold’s outstretched boot and off the inside of the post, 2-1. Manchester City snatched back the lead after the Reds had equalized and set a new course for the rest of the season.

Coming into that match in March 2019, they were seven points behind. A loss at home would have sent them to their doom, but victory brought them within four points and kicked off one of the great title races in Premier League history. By the end, Liverpool had taken 97 points, the second-most by any team ever up to that point, one win short of City’s centurion season the year before. It’s just that City took 98.

Looking back, it feels like a match staged on another planet. Even the score chyron in the upper left corner looks weird. Almost none of the players involved are still wearing the same colors now. Pep Guardiola is still in the City dugout these days, but he celebrated that Sané winner back then with his chief assistant, Mikel Arteta, who was clad in a sky-blue parka. There wasn’t even VAR, just goal-line technology that proved crucial on one of the many goal-line clearances in that famous game, when Stones kept that bouncing ball out by millimeters.

Guardiola’s prime adversary in English football, Jürgen Klopp, is gone now after all those battles. City won two titles in the late 2010s and swept all before them in 2020-21, ushering Klopp’s lone league triumph in 2019-20 into ancient history. And when Liverpool came roaring back the next season to take 93 points, City took one more than them again. The Reds fell apart the next year, and the German’s long goodbye began. Pep’s relentlessness simply broke him, ground him down along with his project. When Arteta’s Arsenal stepped into the plot to challenge City in 2022-23, Pep’s team got whatever points they needed to finish above Arsenal, too.1

It was a testament to Guardiola’s complete domination of this last decade of Premier League history, as he triumphed within yet another Narrative: the master and the apprentice, the student against his old sensei. But that was just two seasons. It was the Pep v Klopp era that was defining: the two titans, the twin towers. The bloodless Sky Blue machine against the full-blooded rock-and-roll of Kloppian Liverpool.

Now it will be Arne Slot in the dugout at the Etihad Stadium this Sunday when City and Liverpool meet again at the scene of the 2019 classic. The Dutchman’s Liverpool story is remarkably different from his predecessor’s. He came in with measured expectations for his first season, then promptly romped to title glory as City and Arsenal collapsed domestically. His club built on that success with a bonanza of a summer shopping spree, dropping close to £450 million on a cadre of players who it was believed would make Liverpool’s continued success inevitable. After seven wins from seven matches across all competitions to open the campaign, the dynasty was all but confirmed. And then the next seven matches happened, and just a few whispers started to creep in about Slot’s job security.

In the end, this first stage of the 2024/25 season for Liverpool has been an object lesson in the bipolar nature of today’s football world. Everyone from Instagram commenters to newspaper columnists jumps onto the swinging pendulum each week. They condemn careers to death or conjure Ballon d’Or nominations. The truth for Slot’s Liverpool lies between the two extremes: They are a very good team who didn’t face a robust challenge last term, and they have a lot of new players to integrate who are not automatically more talented than those they replaced just because they cost big money. (Even Alexander Isak has looked mortal!) They will improve, but how much? And will it happen in time for this trip to the Etihad?

Because City will test Liverpool in a way they could not last season. They will never be the same machine they were two seasons ago without Rodri, who’s had another injury setback — following the ACL tear that essentially destroyed City’s 2024/25 season — and could miss this one. But there are signs that Guardiola has regained some of that title-chaser je ne sais quoi this season, down to the devilish comments he’ll slip in at press conferences. He relishes the lion-in-the-Serengeti role, waiting in the bushes until the hunt truly starts in February and March and April. If he can stay within touching distance of Arsenal at the top, he will believe he can chase them down yet again.

And the signs are, for now, that this new-look City team have what it takes to grind out the results through the dog days of winter. The Citizens were poor at times in the first phase of this season, and they dropped one at Villa Park towards the end of October, but they’ve quietly won eight of their last 10 in all competitions since the draw at Arsenal on September 21. They’ve scored 24 goals in that run, and while the defending has been less than solid — not least because it’s easier to get at the back line with Nico González in front of them than with Rodri — it looks like they can just outscore teams.2 It’s not dissimilar to what we saw from Liverpool in the earliest days of this campaign, except City are popping in three or four and putting games to bed, not relying on what looks in retrospect like desperation winners with the clock ticking down.

Liverpool have gotten back on the track themselves, though, seeing off Aston Villa and Real Madrid in the space of a few days. They look a little less open, less willing to get carved up and played-through. Perhaps both of Sunday’s contestants are poised to start accumulating points at a rapid rate between now and the new year. If they can both keep pace with Arsenal deep into the winter, it could make for a title contest unlike any we’ve seen. You can imagine a world where each meeting between these three would throw up thrilling tactical encounters, clashes of personalities and managerial headloss, late winners and lead changes at the top of the pile. Each time, the odd one out would watch the other two claw each other’s eyes out and smile.

Or maybe we’ll look back someday in the spring and say that neither of the two playing on Sunday were truly in it. Arsenal could be nine points clear of City and 10 clear of Liverpool when this one kicks off, and maybe this meeting of the two protagonists of the Premier League’s third decade is really a contest of also-rans. The North London club is the muscular machine now, rejecting even the suggestion of a shot on their goal as they barrel through the season thus far. Arsenal are, according to those highly aggravating statistics, The Favorites.

But the pendulum could swing once again in an instant. If Arsenal’s trip up to the Stadium of Light on Saturday goes awry, suddenly City or Liverpool are in striking distance if they can do the business one day later. You wouldn’t put it past Granit Xhaka to strike a thunderbolt for Sunderland against his old team.3 If he does, or if the Black Cats find some other way to hurt their visitors, all the familiar storylines will come crashing back into frame. The headlines will scream. The doubts will creep into Arsenal minds. It’s almost like there are seven months of football left to play, and there’s no statistic to tell you what’s next.

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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…

TOTTENHAM vs MAN UNITED

Sat @ 7:30am ET, 12:30pm UK

It’s a meeting of the Spiritually Relegated — or, if you prefer, a rematch of the Europa League final this past May. Both of these teams endured horrid campaigns in the Premier League last year, but it’s a different story this time around as they both seek out a return to the Top Six.

United manager Ruben Amorim is farther down the table than his counterpart, Thomas Frank, but he doesn’t have the same issues with public insubordination. Spurs supporters were booing their team at the final whistle last week, and they’re back at home here for a big one.

WEST HAM vs BURNLEY

Sat @ 10am ET, 3pm UK

Relegation scrap! Burnley slipped down to 17th with a home defeat to Arsenal last time out, but they’re still three clear of their hosts here. The Hammers secured a first victory under new head coach Nuno Espirito Santo last weekend, and over Newcastle United no less. They’ll be confident the fresh gaffer will turn things around after his fine showing last season with Nottingham Forest, but defeat here would send them spinning away from safety.

As an alternative, two more Premier League stalwarts stuck near the bottom of the table are kicking off at the same time. It’s EVERTON vs FULHAM.

JUVENTUS vs TORINO

12pm ET, 5pm UK

This isn’t the most competitive local derby, but it’s a derby nonetheless. The visiting Bulls have not triumphed in this encounter since 2015, but trends are there to be upended and Juventus have endured an uneven start to this season. They need points to keep up in touch with the early high-flyers down in Serie A: Napoli, Inter, Milan, Roma, and Bologna.

As an alternative, SUNDERLAND vs ARSENAL kicks off half an hour later in what should be an intriguing test for the league leaders. They’ll want to get their three points in the bag to pile the pressure on Man City and Liverpool, but Sunderland have made a fine start to this season and the Stadium of Light isn’t an easy place to go. This is fourth hosting first in the Premier League.

CRYSTAL PALACE vs BRIGHTON

Sun @ 9am ET, 2pm UK

This is still one of my favorite matches I’ve been to, a more-than-feisty encounter at Selhurst Park where the flares were flying and the mounted police were on high alert. It’s the A23 derby, always a treat, though there’s also BOLOGNA vs NAPOLI in the same match window — fifth hosting first in Italy.

MAN CITY vs LIVERPOOL

Sun @ 11:30 am ET, 4:30pm UK

The big one for the weekend. Enough said above!