Fake Shirts Crackdown

GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Feb. 27 - counterfeit shirts crackdown, the world’s oldest professional, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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FIXTURES

Premier League MW27: West Ham vs Leicester City, 20:00 / 15:00. Leicester have won the past three Premier League encounters between these two sides. However Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side have lost their past three league games by an aggregate score of 10-0. Meanwhile, West Ham have only lost one of their last 14 games against promoted sides. See the full Premier League results here.

More results…

• Premier League: Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle (Match Report) | Brentford 1-1 Everton | Man Utd 3-2 Ipswich | Nottm Forest 0-0 Arsenal | Spurs 0-1 Man City (League Table)

• Copa Del Rey, SF: Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid (Match Report)

• DFB Pokal, QF: Leipzig 1-0 Wolfsburg

• Coppa Italia, QF: Juventus 1-1 Empoli (Empoli win 4-2 on pens)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Counterfeit Shirts Crackdown

Brentford FC will become the first English club to include microchips in shirts worn by players on matchdays. The microchips will prove their authenticity to combat the market for counterfeit kits. Research has found that the sale of counterfeit Premier League shirts has generated as much as £180m.

Before each match, a chip will be heat-pressed onto the bottom of the shirt. A smartphone can scan the chip to confirm who wore the shirt and when. PSV, Feyenoord, and Anderlecht already use this technology in the Netherlands.

More generally, clubs are cracking down on counterfeit shirts. This season, Championship side Sheffield Wednesday warned that supporters wearing fake shirts could be ejected from their stadium due to their “impact on club revenues”. There is also evidence that (paywall) the knock-off kit market is linked to modern slavery and organised crime.

Oldest Player Turns 58

Japanese forward Kazuyoshi Miura (player profile) turned 58 on Wednesday, making him the oldest player in the Japanese Football League. Miura–known as King Kazu–is set to start his 40th season in professional football. He plays for Atletico Suzuka in the fourth tier of Japanese football, on loan from second-division side Yokohama FC.

In 2017, at age 50, Miura became the oldest player to score in a professional match, surpassing the record held by highly decorated England international Stanley Matthews. As one of the first Japanese football stars, Miura was crowned Asian Footballer of the Year in 1992 and scored 55 goals in 89 international appearances between 1990 and 2000.

Miura has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Santos in Brazil.

Learn more about his story here.

Premier League UCL Projections

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Nottingham Forest are predicted to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League, per Opta’s latest predictions. The clubs that finish in the top four are guaranteed a spot in the next campaign. Should England be awarded a fifth spot—which is likely—Chelsea have a 32% chance of taking advantage of the extra place. Newcastle follow closely behind with a 26% chance.

Bournemouth's defeat to Brighton has dented the Cherries' likelihood of reaching the top five, with their chances dropping to 13%. Brighton have an outside chance of 7.5%—which is greater than Fulham (1.9%) and Aston Villa (2.8%) combined.

Going forward, Fulham (9th) have the toughest run of fixtures, and Wolves (17th) have the easiest fixture run based on the average league positions of their upcoming opponents. Notably, Spurs (13th) and Arsenal (2nd) have the joint-third-hardest run of fixtures, with their opponents averaging 9th in the table. Liverpool (1st) and Chelsea (5th) have the third and fourth easiest runs, with an average opponent position of 13 and 12.6, respectively.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> The Lionesses beat world champions Spain 1-0 at Wembley in the Women’s Nations League'; Jess Park scored in 33rd-minute with a close-range finish (Match Report) (Full results)

> Liverpool boss Arne Slot was handed a two-game touchline ban plus a £70,000 fine after his red card at the end of the Merseyside derby (More); Slot also said he “can’t accept” striker Darwin Nunez’s work rate (More) | Manchester City defender John Stones is out for 8-10 weeks with a thigh injury (More)

> A ‘well-known’ figure in the Premier League arranged “cash for sex” with a teenage girl, court documents allege (More)

> Lautaro Martinez could face a ban for using ‘blasphemous’ language towards the Italian FA after their 1-0 defeat to Juventus (More)

> Sepp Blatter, the former head of FIFA, is attempting to clear his name at a new court hearing into allegations he made corrupt payments to Michel Platini (More)

Americas

> LAFC and Inter Miami advance to the round of 16 of the CONCACAF Champions Cup; Miami 3-1 Sporting Kansas City; LAFC 1-0 Colorado Rapids (More)

> Lionel Messi has been hit with an undisclosed fine for grabbing the neck of a New York City assistant coach (More) | A referee has been handed a six-month ban for asking Messi for his autograph at the end of an Inter Miami game (More)

> Canada Soccer have announced their Men’s National Team’s preliminary squad for the 2025 CONCACAF Nations League Finals following the publishing of the 60-man rosters (More)

> El Salvador named Hernan Dario Gomez as manager; the Colombian will try to lead them to a third World Cup next year in the United States, Mexico and Canada (More)

Rest of the World

> An Australian radio presenter has left the network after comments he made about the country's women's football team, branded as misogynistic and disrespectful (More)

> Cristiano Ronaldo apologised after Al Nassr’s game with Al Wehda was delayed due to traffic (More)

> Chung Mong-gyu won a fourth term as president of the Korea Football Association despite growing dissatisfaction (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think that Jamie Carragher's comments on AFCON were disrespectful?

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 😬 Yes... (45%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅 No... (49%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other… (6%)

Your punditry takes:

• 😬 M.H: “Yes, I think Carragher is missing the point that Micah and others are trying to make, which is that AFCON is sadly underrated by Europe, and has not broken into the established hierarchy like the Euros and Copa America. Ian Wright stated that there is a tinge of racism to how the football community looks down on AFCON, and I don't doubt him.”

• 🙅 J.M: “He said it was not considered a major tournament by Ballon d'Or voters and he is almost certainly right in that. While it is obviously a major tournament conceptually, it is definitely not viewed as highly as the Euros (or the Copa America) in terms of quality or importance.”

• ✍️ C.S: “Not disrespectful whatsoever. He said that the VOTERS don't regard it as a major tournament, which, unfortunately, is true. AFCON is a very competitive tournament. I don't think his comments are disrespectful, he's just speaking the sad truth. Voters should regard it as a major tournament, they just don't.”

EXTRA TIME

Complete guide on every modern formation and system.

Young Messi’s first words at Barcelona.

Liverpool documentary released this Friday. (trailer)

Where teams would be without VAR in the Premier League this season.

Roy Keane vs James Maddison continues. (via X)

Drogba responds to Mourinho’s racist allegations.

First look at Chelsea’s unique 25-26 away kit.

Ronaldo Nazario reveals his top three players ever. (via X)

Has the 2024-25 Premier League season been a disappointment?

Mohamed Salah talks Ballon d'Or ambition.

The worst miss you’ll see all week. (via X)

GAME FACE ON

Question: West Ham manager Graham Potter became the second manager to beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium with three different clubs in all competitions (also with Ostersunds FK and Brighton). Who is the only other manager to have done so?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Premier League

• West Ham vs Leicester (20:00)

SheBelieves Cup

• Australia vs Colombia (00:30)

• United States vs Japan (00:30)

Serie A

• Bologna vs AC Milan (19:45)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.

Answer

Carlo Ancelotti (Chelsea, Everton, Bayern Munich).