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New Prem favourites
✍️ Football regulator update | Messi shock exit | Madrid consider re-singing Ramos
GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering new Premier League title favourites, the incoming football regulator and much more.
Submit your Goal of the Day here.
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PREMIER LEAGUE MW11 STATS
Chelsea (3rd) 1 — 1 Arsenal (4th). The Gunners have gone four consecutive Premier League games without a win after having won 21 of their previous 25 league matches before this. Brighton (6th) 2 – 1 Manchester City (2nd). Pep Guardiola has lost four games in a row in all competitions for the first time in his managerial career. Manchester United (13th) 3 – 0 Leicester City (15th). Man Utd are unbeaten in 19 straight Premier League games against promoted sides, taking 53 of a possible 57 points across these matches. Full Premier League MW11 results here.
Plus…
PREM TITLE RACE
Liverpool become favourites to win the league for the first time this season, according to Opta
Liverpool are now favourites for the Premier League title, according to the league’s official data partner Opta. The Reds now have a 57.76% chance of winning, while Manchester City are second favourites with 37.95%. The betting markets also predict a similar, but less decisive, outcome.
This comes after Arne Slot’s side capitalised on City’s defeat to go five points clear of the table. No manager has won more points (28) from their first 11 games in the Premier League than the Dutchman.
City’s form, on the other hand, has dipped. Following their 2 - 1 loss to Brighton, Guardiola’s men have now lost four consecutive games in all competitions. It’s also the first time that Erling Haaland has lost a Premier League match in which he scored a goal, having won 40 and drawn six of the previous 46 he’d scored in. Premier League table here.
POLL
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HEAD START
🇺🇸 Inter Miami shock first-round elimination from MLS playoffs. Inter Miami suffered a first-round knock-out from the 2024 Major League Soccer playoffs after losing 3 – 2 against Atalanta United. Miami entered the postseason as the No. 1 seed after setting the MLS record for most points in a season. But they fell short against an Atalanta side that finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, 34 points behind Miami. The knock-out has fueled the argument against Fifa’s decision to give Miami a spot in the Club World Cup for winning the Supporters’ Shield, instead of the MLS champions. Highlights of the match can be found here.
👮 Paris to deploy thousands of police for France-Israel. Paris police will have 4,000 officers and 1,600 stadium staff deployed for when France host Israel in their upcoming Nations League match. The decision comes after Israeli fans were horrifically attacked in Amsterdam following a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Dive deeper here.
🎟️ Amorim waiting on work permit ahead of United move. In his last game as manager of Sporting yesterday, Ruben Amorim’s side was down 2 — 0 to Braga but Sporting went on to win 4 — 2. Now, Amorim is set to arrive in England today as Manchester United’s new head coach. However, the Portuguese coach cannot officially start work at Old Trafford until he is issued a work visa. United shouldn’t have any issues with the paperwork, according to sources. Amorim isn’t expected to face the media until the end of the international break but will do in-house media before then.
FOOTBALL REGULATOR UPDATE
Second reading of regulator bill set for Wednesday, changes to be discussed
On Wednesday, the Football Governance Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords. During the second reading, members will discuss the main issues in the bill and highlight areas where they think changes are needed. The introduction of a regulator could take between 12 to 18 months.
The Labour government reintroduced the bill in July. It made several changes to the bill proposed by the Conservative government. This includes giving the regulator power over parachute payments, through the backstop mechanism. The updated bill also focuses on 'effective engagement' with fans on ticket prices and seeks greater transparency in meeting equality, diversity, and inclusion standards.
Fair Game, a group of clubs urging improved football governance, has argued for nineteen amendments to the proposed bill. The main recommendation is that the regulator should ensure that clubs cannot be sold to nation states. Other proposals include the addition of a human rights component to owners’ and directors’ tests and a mandate to disclose the source of an owner’s funds. Dive deeper here.
AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD
Top Five European Leagues
> Real Madrid’s Eder Militao suffered a torn ACL in their 4 – 0 win over Osasuna; Vinicius jr scored a hattrick, while Jude Bellingham got his first goal of the season (Highlights)
> Ivan Juric has been sacked as Roma head coach after defeat to Bologna. After replacing Daniele de Rossi, Juric departs after less than two months in charge with Roma 12th in the table (More)
Rest of the World
> Celtic return to the top of the Scottish Premiership on goal difference after a 2 – 0 win over Kilmarnock; Aberdeen level on points with Celtic after 4 - 1 win over Dundee (More)
> Wrexham’s James McClean stood away from his teammates as they observed a minute’s silence ahead of Remembrance Sunday (McClean’s statement)
ROUTER’S VOICE
On Friday, we asked you: Do you think Mikel Arteta has to win a trophy with Arsenal this season in order to keep his job?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏆 Absolutely, he shouldn't be given another chance... (28%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👎 Nope, he's still the right man for the job... (71%)
⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (1%)
Your punditry takes:
🏆 C.S: “Arsenal brought him with the singular objective of winning the title. 5 years and £700mm+ later still nothing to show for it. No doubt he is a good manager but he has fallen short of achieving his primary goal.”
👎 S.T: “Major injuries have hurt Arsenal early in the season. They will be back near the top once they get healthy. Arteta is excellent at adapting to the personnel he has available but too many key players have been out during the last few games.”
👎 J.M: “It all depends on the context. If we finish 2nd in the league and get to the final of one or two cups then you cannot really blame the manager and it is very arrogant to assume you deserve a trophy! It is very different if we are going out of all the cups early and finishing 6th in the league.”
EXTRA TIME
Mathematicians try to explain Lionel Messi.
Premier League data trends after 100 matches this season.
Manager loses his head at his own player after getting sent off. / via X
Tikkani Reijnders’s beautiful assist for Rafael Leão.
Breaking down Man City's record-losing run. / analysis
… and analysing Pep Guardiola’s long handshake with Jan Paul van Hecke. / via X
Footballers with famous partners.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Who Am I…
I won the Premier League three times and my team was dubbed “The Invincibles” in one of those title wins.
I played for Ajax’s youth team before signing for Inter Milan in 1993.
I retired in 2006 and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame the next year.
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Major League Soccer - MLS Cup
Sounders vs Houston (00:00)
*All time in UK. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.
Answer
Dennis Bergkamp.
Goal of the Day
Today’s Goal of the Day is from Gary P: Tony Green, FA Cup, January 1971. “Tony Green waltzes through the West Ham midfield and defence, Bobby Moore included, and scores a left-footed scorcher. Final score, Blackpool 4 West Ham 0.”
Gary’s goal can be seen here. Submit your entry for Goal of the Day here.
Sometimes [Mourinho] asked me, ‘How are you?’ and I would tell him ‘I am fine’, and he would say ‘Really? Because in the last game you were s***.’