⚽️MAN UNITED vs ARSENAL (Feat. Chris Wittyngham)
⚽️MAN UNITED vs ARSENAL (Feat. Chris Wittyngham)
Plus: The Old Firm and the Championship playoffs.
Once upon a time, MANCHESTER UNITED vs ARSENAL was the title-decider. This was Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry. There were refereeing disputes and pizzas thrown and penalties made and missed. There was tumult in the tunnel and a bitter end to Arsenal’s Invincible run.
United are far from the big stage these days, and their 4-0 capitulation at Crystal Palace on Monday night was just the latest indignity. Manager Erik ten Hag may well be doomed at this point, but his opponents are flying high. After a dark period of their own, Mikel Arteta has brought Arsenal back to the mountaintop, where Man City greeted them like the Balrog. The North Londoners have won 14 of their last 15 Premier League matches, a nearly perfect showing in 2024, but with two matches remaining, even 16 of 17 may not be enough to stop Pep Guardiola’s freight train. Arsenal certainly must win here, while the Red Devils have an opportunity to unravel an old enemy’s season. After all, the Gunners have won just once in their last 16 league trips to Old Trafford.
Chris Wittyngham joined the show to preview this one not long after he called the Champions League semifinal between PSG and Borussia Dortmund for CBS and Paramount+. We talked out the two teams’ seasons, the state of Manchester United Football Club, the newly released Premier League Player of the Season nominees, and how we expect things to play out on Sunday:
You can also check out the show on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon, and Acast.
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This weekend’s match map…..
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THE HEADLINES
➡️ Bayer Leverkusen came back—again—to rescue their frankly incomprehensible unbeaten run this season, which now stretches to 49 matches across all competitions. They were 2-0 down to Roma in the Europa League semifinal second leg but completed the 2-2 comeback with a goal from Josip Stanišić in the 97th minute. They’re headed to the final in Dublin later this month, and Atalanta will meet them there after smacking Marseille 4-1 on aggregate.
➡️ In the Champions League, Borussia Dortmund outgamed PSG with a goal in each leg to advance to the final, though they had the woodwork on their side: the Parisians struck the post or crossbar six times in the tie. On the other side of the bracket, Bayern Munich had set the table for an all-German final until Real Madrid did Real Madrid things from the 88th minute on: Joselu scored twice to seize the game from their opponents, and they skated through with the help of a hugely controversial refereeing incident in the 103rd minute.
➡️ The nominations for the Premier League’s individual awards are out.
Player of the Season: Erling Haaland (Man City), Phil Foden (Man City), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Alexander Isak (Newcastle), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool).
Young Player of the Season: Erling Haaland (Man City), Phil Foden (Man City), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), William Saliba (Arsenal), Alexander Isak (Newcastle), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham).
Manager of the Season: Pep Guardiola (Man City), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Unai Emery (Aston Villa), Andoni Iraola (Bournemouth).
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SATURDAY
CELTIC vs RANGERS
7:30am ET, 12:30pm GMT
The Old Firm. This one is always special, even if these two are destined to meet five times this season when you include the Scottish Cup final later this month. This is a true blood feud, a proxy war for sectarian strife, and with just three matches left to play, if Rangers lose this one, Celtic will almost certainly take the title.
FULHAM vs MAN CITY
7:30am ET, 12:30pm GMT
If you’re keener on the Premier League title race than the Scottish Premiership’s, you can watch City go to Fulham with the opportunity to leapfrog Arsenal in the table and pile on the pressure before the Gunners head to Old Trafford the following day. Prior to the last few weeks, you’d have said the Tottenham match on Tuesday is the Citizens’ most significant remaining hurdle. But with the form Ange Postecoglu’s side have shown, perhaps Fulham are the last true barrier between Pep Guardiola and four straight English titles.
NEWCASTLE vs BRIGHTON
10am ET, 3pm GMT
This one’s the tastiest item in the 10am buffet, as Newcastle have crackled into form. They’ve taken 13 points from the last 18 available, behind only Man City and Arsenal, and languid menace Alexander Isak has just earned a Player of the Season nomination along with some very flattering comparisons to Thierry Henry. Brighton have been poor, taking nine points from the last 30, but they did find a way past Champions League-chasing Aston Villa last time out.
The other form team in the division is CRYSTAL PALACE, who travel to WOLVES for another fine match in this window, and then there’s WEST HAM vs LUTON TOWN. The Hatters could fly through the Moon Door to the Championship if they fail to get a result at the London Stadium.
NAPOLI vs BOLOGNA
12pm ET, 5pm GMT
The visitors are unbeaten in their last seven Serie A matches as they storm towards the finish line—and a place in the Champions League this season. Joshua Zirkzee is one of the bright young striking prospects in Europe, and Riccardo Orsolini is just one behind him with 10 league goals this season.
Their hosts are enduring a miserable season of title non-defense: the champions have cycled through three coaches this season and have rarely even looked like qualifying for Europe. Now they’ve slipped down to eighth, but they still have quality through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen, who have 25 goals between them. You never know.
FOREST vs CHELSEA
12:30pm ET, 5:30pm GMT
With one more win, Nottingham Forest can just about secure survival in the Premier League for next season. They’re three points clear of Luton with a far superior goal difference, though the City Ground has not been the fortress this season that it was last time around. It’s a bad time to run into Chelsea, too. They’ve bounced back from the 5-0 thrashing by Arsenal with a draw at Villa Park, a comprehensive victory over Tottenham, and a dismantling of West Ham.
SUNDAY
NORWICH vs LEEDS UNITED
7am ET, 12pm GMT
This is the first Championship playoff semifinal of the day, as Leeds—the top seed in this mini-tournament—head to Norwich, the bottom. With 18 points from the last 30 on offer, the Canaries finished the regular season quite well, while Leeds crashed from league leaders into playoff madness with four losses in six matches to wrap up the campaign. They need to find themselves again, and quickly, if they want to bounce back up to the Premiership after just one season in the second division.
WEST BROM vs SOUTHAMPTON
9:15am ET, 2:15pm GMT
In the other semifinal, two teams that somewhat drifted into the playoffs go to battle. Both won on the final day to stop the bleeding after three straight defeats, but they did not have very similar seasons otherwise. Southampton were consistently in the playoff discussion and have the 87 points to prove it, 12 clear of West Brom. They will quietly believe their place is in the final with Leeds.
MAN UNITED vs ARSENAL
11:30am ET, 4:30pm GMT
This one shouldn’t be close, but I bet it will be. Full preview in the episode up top!
BOCHUM vs BAYER LEVERKUSEN
After yet another 97th-minute equalizer on Thursday to keep the unbeaten run going, this Leverkusen team is simply must-see TV. Their fans will be hoping for a less eventful match for the sake of cardiovascular health, and Bochum could be useful in that regard: They’re way down in 14th, 51 points behind the already crowned champions, though they do need a result of their own to stay clear of the relegation scrap. If they lose here, they may have to beat Werder Bremen next Saturday to stay up.⚽︎