Prem vote incoming

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering the Premier League’s emergency APT meeting, VAR getting it wrong and much more.

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TONIGHT’S EUROPA LEAGUE STATS

Galatasaray vs Tottenham (17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET). Spurs currently sit level on points with Lazio at the top of the 36-team Europa League table and have won each of their last six home fixtures across all competitions. Olympiakos vs Rangers (17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET). Rangers have yet to win in four visits to Greece and have won just one of eight meetings against Greek teams. Man United vs PAOK (20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET). The two teams will meet for the first time in their history and are both still searching for their first victory in this season's competition. Full list of fixtures here.

Plus…

• Champions League results: Inter Milan 1 - 0 Arsenal | PSG 1 - 2 Atletico Madrid | Club Brugge 1 - 0 Aston Villa | Red Star 2 - 5 Barcelona (Full results here)

• Former Republic of Ireland and Chelsea defender John Dempsey dies aged 78 (More)

• Club World Cup rules published by Fifa (More)

• Neymar out for 4-6 weeks, Al Hilal future in doubt (More)

• San Marino asks Real Madrid for a friendly as they believe they are on a “similar level” (More) / via X

• Leny Yoro returns to Man United training (More)

• Mohammed Kudus ban extended to five games (More)

PREM EMERGENCY MEETING

Premier League clubs to vote on sponsor rules this month in emergency meeting

Premier League clubs will vote on the proposed amendments to its sponsorship rules on November 22. The rule changes relate to Manchester City’s case against the league’s associated party transaction (APT) rules. Dive deeper here.

In October an independent tribunal found that certain elements of the rules were “unlawful”. This is due to shareholder loans – interest-free loans from those with a stake in the club – not being considered part of the APT calculations. City argue that the ruling makes the APT rules redundant but the Premier League disagrees.

Nevertheless, the Premier League is proposing that shareholder loans will now be included in APT rules to comply with the verdict. Clubs will vote on this change, as well as other tweaks to the rules. But the inclusion of shareholder loans could have a dramatic impact on the majority of the division’s financial fair play compliance. Six top-flight sides have over £100mn in debt owed to their owners (graphic).

POLL

HEAD START

😲 Mendy wins case against Man City. Benjamin Mendy has won a legal victory over his former club Manchester City after he was cleared of sexual offences. The French left-back was owed £11mn in unpaid wages, but he’s expected to receive £8.5mn. Mendy’s statement can be found here. Mendy’s argument in court was that City decided he was “guilty from the outset” and unlawfully withdrew his salary. The judge ruled that Mendy was “ready and willing” to work but was prevented from doing so by impediments outside of his control. 

⭐ Clubs told Gyokeres can leave Sporting for £63mn. Premier League clubs have been told that (paywall) Viktor Gyokeres, Sporting’s striker, is available for £63mn next summer. The Swede has made a name for himself as one of Europe’s most prolific strikers and even more so after scoring a hat-trick in Sporting’s 4 — 1 win over Manchester City on Tuesday. Gyokeres has been linked to Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. He has 66 goals in 67 appearances for Sporting since his move from Coventry.

💰 Crystal Palace have interest from Dallas Mavericks head coach. Jason Kidd, the head coach of the basketball team Dallas Mavericks, is part of a consortium offering to purchase a stake in Crystal Palace. The initial offer to buy Eagle Football’s 45 per cent stake fell below John Textor’s ask. Should the deal go ahead, it could pave the way for a chance in overall ownership of the south London side. Textor is bidding to buy Everton which is dependent on selling his stake in Palace.

VAR CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

VAR was “wrong” in the match that sealed Erik ten Hag’ sacking

Howard Webb, referees’ chief at PGMOL, believes it was an error (paywall) for West Ham to be awarded the decisive penalty kick in a 2 – 1 win over Manchester United. While the on-field decision didn’t rule a penalty, VAR asked the referee to review Matthijs de Ligt’s challenge on Danny Ings at the monitor. The referee overruled his on-field decision.

It’s understood that the Key Match Incidents panel an independent group that looks at big officiating calls in the Premier League, is also understood to have judged the decision to be wrong. Nevertheless, it’s hard to say whether the outcome of this match impacted United’s decision to sack Ten Hag.

Last month, the referee chief said there has been an 80 per cent reduction in the number of VAR errors this season.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

Top Five European Leagues

> Real Madrid midfielder Auerelien Tchouameni will be out of action for a month after spraining his ankle in the club’s 3 – 1 Champions League defeat to AC Milan (More)

> The Premier League has sold its UK live audio rights to BBC and talkSport for the next four seasons (More)

Rest of the World

> UEFA has fined the FA and the Football Association of Ireland after the national anthems were booed before the Republic of Ireland played England in the Nations League in September (More)

> A lightning strike killed a 34-year-old player and injured four others during a football match in the Peruvian Andes (More)

Women’s Football

> Spanish women’s national team open up on the Luis Rubiales infamous kiss in new Netflix documentary (More)

> Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship games will be played in the home club’s stadium for the first time ever this weekend (More)

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Who do you see as Manchester City's biggest title challenger? and why?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🔴 Liverpool... (84%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🔫 Arsenal... (9%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🦁 Aston Villa... (1%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🔵 Chelsea... (6%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🔴 I.B: “The Slot Machine is purring along nicely and we’re only really playing well for half a game! Still much more to come…”

• 🔴 J.S: “Slot is proving to be one of the best managers in the world right now.”

• 🔫 L.W: “It’s far too early to rule out Arsenal. They’ll find their stride again once their key players are back.”

EXTRA TIME

Thierry Henry breaks down Real Madrid’s issues.

Players with the most minutes together in the Champions League since 2000.

Red Bull’s new logo for third-division Japanese side.

Vinicius Jr Fallon d’Floor candidate.

… and reaction to Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or tantrum. / podcast

How Sir Alex Ferguson motivated players. / via X

The most expensive U21s in the world.

Are Man City really in a ‘dark place’?

GAME FACE ON

Question: Manchester City’s 32-game Premier League unbeaten run came to an end at Bournemouth. Who was the last team to beat them in the league prior to Saturday?

Clue: Sixth.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Europa League

• Galatasaray vs Tottenham (17:45)

• Olympiakos vs Rangers (17:45)

• Lazio vs Porto (20:00)

• Man United vs PAOK (20:00)

Full list of Europa League fixtures here.

Conference League

• Chelsea vs Noah (20:00)

• Hearts vs Heidenheim (20:00)

Full list of Conference League fixtures here.

Championship

• West Brom vs Burnley (20:00)

Serie A

• Genoa vs Como (19:45)

*All time in UK. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Aston Villa (1-0 in December 2023).

Goal of the Day

Today’s Goal of the Day is from Steve McG: “Luis Diaz's first goal was the best finish of the night on the end of the best pass of the night from Curtis Jones!” Thanks to several other Routers for the suggestions.

Steve’s goal can be seen here. Submit your entry for Goal of the Day here.