⚽️THE PETRODERBY
NEWCASTLE vs MAN CITY is a match for our times. Plus: Man United-Tottenham, and A.C. Milan host Roma.
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The Premier League is on partial winter break following the insanity of the festive period, but there are still five matches this weekend and they’re all worth your time. Newcastle-Man City is the Petroderby, Chelsea host Fulham in a West London affair, and Man United have Tottenham in a match where pretty much anything could happen. Then there’s a Basque derby in La Liga, and down in Italy, A.C. Milan host José Mourinho’s Roma. But first:
THE HEADLINES
➡️ Tottenham Hotspur have signed Romanian centerback Radu Drăgușin and German forward Timo Werner to patch up some of their injury wounds. Drăgușin leaves Genoa as one of Serie A’s more highly rated centerbacks. Werner returns to the Premier League from RB Leipzig looking to rewrite his reputation after a poor spell at Chelsea last time around.
➡️ A Tottenham centerback who couldn’t get a game under Ange Postecoglu, Eric Dier, is headed to Bayern Munich. He rejoins his old mate Harry Kane.
➡️ Man United exile Jadon Sancho is headed back to Borussia Dortmund on loan. The winger, who failed to impress for the Red Devils despite an astronomical transfer fee and some astronomical wages, publicly suggested manager Erik ten Hag had lied about him earlier in the season and the relationship proved unsalvageable.
➡️ The African Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup kick off this weekend, and some major stars—Mo Salah, Heung-min Son, and many more—will be away from their clubs for weeks. The European season will continue undeterred.
➡️ The drama around Victor Osimhen continues. After his own club clowned on him on Instagram earlier in the season, the Napoli striker went nuclear on teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s agent. Mamuka Jugeli claimed in an interview this week that Osimhen was headed to the Saudi Pro League next summer. In response, the Nigerian called Jugeli “a piece of filth,” “a disgrace,” and a “dumbfuck” in an Instagram story before channeling Will Smith: “KEEP MY NAME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!”
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FRIDAY
BURNLEY vs LUTON TOWN (2:45pm ET, 7:45pm GMT)
The Scrap has well and truly begun as we enter the second half of the season, and these two will be scratching and scraping to stay in the Premier League. Vincent Kompany’s Burnley came into the top division with more than a little naïveté, trying to play the expansive football that saw them win the Championship at a canter last season. They’ve shipped 41 goals and scored just 20 in the big leagues, which suggests it’s not really working at either end. Their home form has been particularly atrocious—they’ve lost 5 of their last 6—while their opponents have shown some signs of life as they try to leapfrog somebody (Brentford? Everton? Forest?) to get out of the relegation zone.
SATURDAY
CHELSEA vs FULHAM (7:30am ET, 12:30pm GMT)
This here’s a West London derby, and probably one of the more even matchups for a Chelsea-Fulham match that you’ll see. The home team are 10th and consistently inconsistent, the trials and tribulations of a young team. They followed up an emphatic win over Preston North End in the FA Cup last weekend with a 1-0 defeat to Middlesbrough in midweek. The Blues’ hundreds of millions worth of talent failed to overcome a Championship side in that one, and with growing calls for coach Mauricio Pochettino to face consequences for this season’s results, they’ll be desperate to set things right against a Fulham side who saw off Arsenal last time out in the Premier League.
NEWCASTLE vs MAN CITY (12:30pm ET, 5:30pm GMT)
This is a match for our times, as two teams backed by oil-rich nations in the Mideast clash in the Premier League. This is Saudi Arabia vs. Abu Dhabi. There’ve been two Petroderbies already this season, and both were close-run affairs: Man City edged a 1-0 win at home in August, while Newcastle won by the same scoreline to knock the Citizens out of the EFL Cup the following month.
Newcastle have battled injuries and indifferent form in the time since, sinking into mid-table with just one more point than Chelsea (gasp!) after 20 matches. The Magpies’ form is horrid at the moment. They’ve lost five of their last six in the league, while City are surely about to do their 14-wins-in-a-row thing to start the new year. Phil Foden is in electric form in attacking midfield, so it’s almost a joke that Kevin De Bruyne just made his return and registered an assist. Erling Haaland hasn’t played since early December—and he’s still out for this one—but he’s still top of the scoring charts! The Sky Blues are scary, full stop.
ATHLETIC CLUB vs REAL SOCIEDAD (12:30pm ET, 5:30pm GMT)
If the Petroderby is a blowout, you can always check in for this Basque battle. The city of Bilbao is an architectural masterpiece on Spain’s northern coast, and the local outfit will host their near neighbors hailing from San Sebastián, the gastrocapital. Like pretty much every other region, the Basque Country really has no interest in being part of Spain, and Athletic reflects this independent impulse with its policy of only using players born or brought up Basque.
These methods are serving Bilbao well enough: they sit fourth in the table, six points ahead of their local rivals in sixth, though Sociedad are playing Champions League football this season. A recent run of draws has seen the txuri-urdin fall away from the Top Four, and they’ll be without precocious talent Takefusa Kubo. He’s off with the Japanese national team, a formidable favorite to go deep in the Asian Cup this month. If you do tune in, look for Martín Zubimendi, one of the most highly rated up-and-coming deep midfielders in Europe.
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SUNDAY
EVERTON vs ASTON VILLA (9:00am ET, 2:00pm GMT)
It’s mandatory to mention that without a 10-point deduction on allegations of Financial UnFair Play, Everton would be in 12th. Instead, they’re 17th, one point above the drop zone, and the last thing Sean Dyche needs is a visit from Aston Villa. Unai Emery’s side are second in the league, scoring goals for fun and conceding quite a few, too. Alongside Tottenham, they’re the league’s great entertainers, and Ollie Watkins is at the heart of it with 9 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League this season.
MAN UNITED vs TOTTENHAM (11:30am ET, 4:30pm GMT)
With Jadon Sancho out the door, Erik ten Hag will be hoping for New Year New You vibes at Old Trafford. Sure, Anthony Martial is still there, and they can’t score for shit, and their goal difference is -5, but somehow United keep hanging around the European places. They’re three points off West Ham in sixth and nine off Arsenal in fourth.
Tottenham are just one point off their hated North London rivals, however, and they’ll feel revitalized with some new additions as they try to ride out their injury crisis. Ange Postecoglu’s side have played some lovely stuff all season while conceding plenty of goals, all of which has made them a highly entertaining watch. Expect more of the same here, though Spurs will be without talisman Son Heung-min, who’s away at the Asian Cup with South Korea. Foolish as any bet on Manchester United has been this season, I could see them taking this 3-2.
A.C. MILAN vs ROMA (2:45pm ET, 7:45PM GMT)
The hosts are struggling to keep pace with Inter and Juventus at the top of Serie A, but they’re in a tier of their own in third place. Fiorentina are six points back in fourth, and Roma are a full 10 points behind them in eighth. José Mourinho’s capital side have gone a bit off the boil recently, winning two of their last six league matches, and Paulo Dybala’s injury struggles surely haven’t helped. He’s out again with a thigh problem that he picked up in Roma’s cup defeat to hated local rivals Lazio in midweek, and the Giallorossi may struggle to create chances with their chief schemer sidelined. Romelu Lukaku has been fairly lethal in front of goal, but there’s no comparison to Milan’s attack.
The timeless Olivier Giroud just won’t quit with nine goals and five assists, and Captain America Christian Pulisic has six and five. He’s edged ahead of Rafael Leão, the sparkling, fleet-footed #10, who’s on five and three. But while it might seem like Milan are flowing forward far more effectively, these two teams are fairly even on goals scored (35-31) and conceded (20-21) this season. Fine margins, then, and Mourinho will believe more of these narrow results are bound to start going his team’s way.
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THE FPL STOCK MARKET
It was a great gameweek last time out for The Weekenders, but we’ve been ravaged by injuries and AFCON. With just one free transfer available, it feels like the chairman gave us no budget for the January window.
It now looks like Jarrod Bowen and Michael Olisé will be out for the rest of January, though they may only miss 2 or 3 matchweeks. With players who are away on international duty—like Mo Salah, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan, and Mohammed Kudus—it’s more complicated. If their teams do well, they could be out until mid-February. The big question here is whether you want to play your wildcard, play your free hit, or possibly take a 4-point penalty to make an extra transfer (or two). I say keep your wildcard, but it’s tough out there. Four of the top five midfielders this season are out, and so is the top defender, Trent Alexander-Arnold. Anyway, the stocks:
↗️ Phil Foden (£7.9m) is the shoe-in pick at the moment, banging in goals from central attacking midfield for Man City. Kevin De Bruyne (£10.3) isn’t quite back despite getting some minutes (and an assist) in the FA Cup, but keep an eye out.
↗️ Pascal Groß (£6.4m) is always a threat to make late runs into the box and score, and he’s been warming up in recent weeks. Brighton have a very favorable schedule, so also look at João Pedro (£5.4m) up front and Pervis Estupiñan (£5.0m) at the back.
↘️ Dominic Solanke (£7.1m): A controversial one here, but Bournemouth have the toughest near-term fixture list of any team in the league—Forest also have it rough—and my suspicion is they’ve been overperforming a bit over the last month or two.
↗️ With the midfield injury-and-AFCON massacre across the league, Aston Villa provides a safe harbor with Leon Bailey (£5.7m), Moussa Diaby (£6.6m), penalty-taker Douglas Luiz (£5.6m), and vertical runner John McGinn (£5.6m).⚽︎