Obligatory "didn't happen today" but around 4-5 years ago. Just came across a post that reminded me of this heartbreaking story.
To give some context, we hadn't long had my daughter and she wasn't sleeping through properly. For anyone who doesn't have kids, take note!!
We had been having a very rough couple of days as she wasn't sleeping very well at all. I volunteered to cover any problems in the evening/night.
I am avid football fan (not American football, proper football), and fancy a bet from time to time. I had got into a rhythm of putting on a small bet on an accumulator every other weekend (like £1-£2 at a time). Basically, you make a bet against many different matches and the prize money increases based on the size and type of bets. "Cash Out" betting was a thing, but wasn't picked up by the bookies I used but I didn't mind much.
Moving on to the day in question, it's about 3am after finally getting my daughter to sleep. I was exhausted, I could barely keep my eyes open. Just before bed, I check the football fixtures for the weekend. I couldn't believe my luck, every premier League game was being played on the weekend!
I quickly wake up and get a piece of paper, write down all my predictions and set my bet up - supplementimg the bet with other leagues to the point I maxed the accumulator out at 25 games. I banged on a bet and the odds came out at £15k+. I was pissing myself in excitement. I slam the "place bet" button.
I check my bet Sunday, mid afternoon........ My heart was pounding out my chest, every single bet came in!!! The only game left was Tottenham Hotspurs Vs Swansea which was being played on Sunday. I had bet that Spurs would beat Swansea
Ladies and gentlemen, I am on the verge of winning £15k+ on the back of a £1 bet!! Honestly, those few hours realising I was gonna get such a windfall after a newborn baby - the feeling is unreal.
And this is where it all goes wrong....
As I check my bet, my heart practically stops. In my sleep deprived state I had placed the bet on the wrong team. I meant to place a bet on Spurs, but accidentally bet on Swansea to win. For context, Swansea were awful that season! Now all my hopes rest on a team that were struggling.
I watched hopelessly as Spurs best Swansea ... I could have cried, honestly, I still think about it sometimes.
So there you have it, my chance to get a decent windfall and make our lives a little easier was fucked by sleep deprivation.
I try not to hold it against my daughter ...
TL:DR - Sleep deprived, I placed an incorrect bet and missed out on a large windfall

LIVERPOOL CHELSEA

Matchday 34
14 April 2019
Kick Off: 16:30 GMT Convert to local time
Venue: Anfield
Referee: Michael Oliver Assistants: Stuart Burt, Simon Bennett Fourth official: Craig Pawson
Odds: Liverpool 8/11 Chelsea 18/5 Draw 14/5 (Via SkyBet)
Links
Where to Watch
Pre-Match Conference: Jurgen Klopp
Preview

Liverpool return to action on Sunday, with Maurizio Sarri's Chelsea visiting Anfield in the Premier League.
The Reds come into the game buoyed from a 2-0 UEFA Champions League win over FC Porto and will be out to maintain their place at the top of the table with victory over the Blues.
Chelsea were also victorious in midweek, as they beat Slavia Prague 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday. Sarri's men were not at their best, but the victory was their fourth in a row in all competitions.
Liverpool top the table by two points from Manchester City, although they have played a game more than Pep Guardiola's side and know they can't afford to drop points if they are to be crowned champions.
Chelsea should provide a stiff test and are also in need of all three points as they continue their battle with Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Manchester United for a place in the top four.

Statements
Jurgen Klopp:

"I feel the positive energy. It's a massive change from surprise we are up there to getting used to it and getting more confident.
"The five or 10 seconds after the Tottenham equaliser [at Anfield two weeks ago] was the best reaction in the stadium.
"We really feel as one with the supporters as a whole group. You don't walk alone, you're never alone in these situations.
"We are trying to keep this dream alive and at the moment it's all good."

Maurizio Sarri:

"To face Liverpool is going to be difficult for us but every game now is difficult.
"We know well the risks of this match but we also know that when we are able to play at 100% of our potential, we can gain points anywhere.
"We are in a very good physical and mental condition right now."

Match Facts

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 37 Premier League games at Anfield - only once in their top-flight history have they had a longer unbeaten home run (63 between Feb 1978-Dec 1980).
Chelsea have lost their last five Premier League away games against fellow 'big six' opponents, including all three this season by an aggregate score of 1-11. However, the Blues have won three of their last four away league games against sides starting the day top, including a 2-0 victory at Anfield in April 2014.
Chelsea have won three Premier League games in a row for the first time since September 2018, when they won their first five matches in the competition under Maurizio Sarri.
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge netted the equaliser for his side at Stamford Bridge in the reverse fixture back in September; the only player to previously net both home and away against the Blues within the same campaign was Fabio Borini, who did so for Sunderland during the 2015-16 season.
Only three of the last 32 visiting managers have managed to taste victory in their first Premier League trip to Anfield (W3 D5 L24); Louis van Gaal in March 2015, Slaven Bilic in August 2015 and most recently, Paul Clement in January 2017.
Roberto Firmino has scored seven goals in his last six Premier League home games for Liverpool. However, the Brazilian has only faced Manchester United (8) and Everton (7) more often than Chelsea (5) without finding the net in the Premier League.
Chelsea's Eden Hazard has had a hand in more goals than any other Premier League player this season (28 - 16 goals and 12 assists). The only league season in which the Belgian has been involved in more goals was in 2011/12 with Ligue 1 club Lille (36).

Head to Head

Liverpool have not won any of their last six Premier League home games against Chelsea, drawing four and losing two of those - they have never endured a longer winless run against an opponent in the competition.
The Blues have only lost twice in their last 16 meetings with the Reds in all competitions, and both of those defeats came at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have already tasted victory at Anfield this season, winning 2-1 in the EFL Cup third round. They have never won twice away to Liverpool in the same season.
Liverpool wins: 77 Draws: 41 Chelsea wins: 63

Team News
Liverpool

Liverpool will welcome back left-back Andrew Robertson from a suspension that ruled him out of the midweek Champions League win over Porto.
~~Joe Gomez was named on the bench on Tuesday and is in line for a first appearance since early December, though Dejan Lovren performed well at the back against Porto.~~ Gomes is with U23s so definitely out for today's game.

Chelsea

Chelsea have the full squad to choose from, except left-back Emerson, who missed Thursday's game, will be assessed before the game.

Predicted Lineups
Liverpool XI:

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mané

Chelsea XI:

Kepa; Azpilicueta, Rudiger, Luiz, Emerson; Kante, Jorginho, Loftus-Cheek; Hudson-Odoi, Higuain, Hazard

Form


Chelsea	D L W W W
Liverpool	W W W W W

Points Table

POS	CLUB	P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Liverpool	33	25	7	1	55	82
2	Man City	32	26	2	4	62	80
4	Spurs	33	22	1	10	30	67
3	Chelsea	33	20	6	7	23	66
5	Man United	33	19	7	7	19	64

Format Credit: u/YIIZWL

Football: Nicaraguan Premier League – ART Municipal Jalapa vs Juventus Managua (11pm)
In Nicaragua, the football continues on Sunday. There is a full fixture list of games, and we are looking at a midtable clash between two sides looking to close the gap to the top three.
Municipal are just two points clear of Juventus. The home side are level with Walter Ferretti ahead of them, and we think they’ll get a crucial win here.
Our Tip: Municipal to win 13/8 @ Paddy Power
https://www.freebets.co.uk/betting-tips/todays-top-5-betting-tips-29th-march?utm_source=Shot_On_Goal&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Reddit&utm_content=3150

I took a month-long break from writing these every week, but after the events of this weekend I’ve realised I just can’t stay away from the global entertainment phenomenon that is Scottish football.
As well as being extremely busy, part of the motivation behind this hiatus of mine was the nonsense that followed Brendan Rodgers’ departure from Celtic to Leicester City, despite him saying that he didn’t see it as a stepping stone, and that it was his dream job. Whilst according to the average /soccer user, this cemented the Scottish Premiership’s status as a diddy league unworthy of following, it DID provide an opportunity to examine Celtic’s support’s journey through the 5 stages of grief. First there was denial, then anger, before depression, bargaining, and finally acceptance that Moussa Dembélé was right all along.
Elsewhere, it’s brown trousers time for fans of Hamilton, Dundee, and St Mirren; and the race for a top 6 place - and a chance at European football - is going to go down to the wire.
A timeline of all of the patter in the SPFL, and results from the last month in the Scottish Premiership ‘reported’ below, taking a more detailed look at this weekend’s fixtures, and results from the Scottish Cup, the Challenge Cup final, and the national team’s Euro 2020 qualifying games (as much as it pains me to do so).
I’m not going to go into copious detail with every result, because there’s a good 30-something games to discuss, but there will be at least highlights of every game, just a click away.

Wednesday 27/02/19


Hearts	1 - 2	Celtic

Neil Lennon’s first match as caretaker manager for Celtic was a visit to his previous team’s city rivals. He was greeted by two banners, one from the Green Brigade directed at Brendan Rodgers reading “You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt. Always a fraud.”, and one from Hearts fans reading “Brendan Rodgers is here for 10 in a row”.
Once again the fans were centre of attention at Tynecastle, with Celtic’s support lobbing a coin at Bobby Zlamal, and Hearts’ support producing the staunchest tribute act of 2019.
If there’s a moment in this season where Hibs and Celtic fans have been united in tweeting “inject this into my veins”, it will have been when Odsonne Edouard’s 92nd-minute winner against 10-man Hearts provoked this reaction on the touchline.
Highlights.


St Johnstone	1 - 2	Hibernian

The official SPFL YouTube channel’s description for the highlights of this match does it more justice than I ever could - “Florian Kamberi went down as if "hit by a 40-foot truck" to win the spot kick that set Hibernian on course for a third consecutive win”.
Meanwhile, the BBC still can’t differentiate between former Hibs forward Dominique Malonga and current loanee Stéphane Omeonga.
You can watch the aforementioned highlights here.


Aberdeen	0 - 2	Hamilton Academical

Since awful home performances from Aberdeen are no longer remarkable, this game should exclusively be remembered for George Oakley’s Marco van Basten-esque wondergoal, and little else.
Highlights.


Rangers	4 - 0	Dundee

A solid performance from Rangers who went into half-time 3-0 up against a struggling Rangers.
Highlights.


Kilmarnock	PSTP	Motherwell

This game was postponed on account of no-one, including the players, being able to see a thing. Sorry, Motherwell defender Charles Dunne.

Saturday 02/03/19

Scottish Premiership


St Mirren	1 - 0	Livingston

What a huge result this is for the Buddies, courtesy of an 89th minute goal from Ryan Flynn! This result put them one point behind Dundee.
Highlights.


Kilmarnock	0 - 0	Motherwell

Worth the wait, then. 8 games without a win for Kilmarnock at this point.
Highlights for the morbidly curious.

Scottish Cup - Quarter-finals


Hibernian	0 - 2	Celtic

Without meaning for this to turn into a Scottish Football Fan Trouble Roundup, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that a bottle of Buckfast, or Bucks Fizz if you’re the Mail, was thrown at Scott Sinclair whilst it was 0-0, in the first of two incidents of bampot behaviour at Easter Road within the next week.
Not sure it quite had the desired effect, mind, as shortly after two belters from James Forrest and Scott Brown did the business for Celtic.
Full highlights with commentary.

Sunday 03/03/19


Aberdeen	1 - 1	Rangers

Having been sent off in his previous three matches against Aberdeen, Alfredo Morelos was welcomed back to Pittodrie by a banner reading “Morelos tu madre es un colchón”, or in Scots: “Morelos yer maw’s a mattress”. The Daily Record, of course, seeing this as just as offensive as the fans who fling bottles and coins at players and managers.
Sam Cosgrove had the Dons ahead from the penalty spot, but was at fault as Joe Worrall snuck in the equaliser shortly after half-time, forcing a replay. Full highlights with commentary.


Dundee United	1 - 2	Inverness CT

Brilliant late drama as wee Aaron Doran headed in a goal in stoppage time to book Caley Thistle’s place in the semi-final, in a game which they dominated. After beautiful goal from Joe Chalmers put ICT ahead, United were equal through a contentious penalty converted by Nicky Clarke. Inverness had the ball in the net again before the winner, but Nathan Austin had been ruled offside. Overall, ICT worthy winners.
Full highlights.

Monday 04/03/19


Partick Thistle	1 - 1

A hilarious performance from Hearts on account of how predictable it was; totally dominant with no end product beyond Christophe Berra’s 12th-minute opener, which was cancelled out by Christie Elliot on the counter attack an hour later. Uche Ikpeazu almost scored one of the competition’s greatest ever goals before half-time, and if he had, that most likely would have been it for Partick. However, they managed to force the replay, along with Aberdeen and Rangers, although neither game could be broadcast, because UEFA want you to watch the Champions League.
Full highlights with commentary.

Friday 08/03/19


Hibernian	1 - 1	Rangers

Rangers fans retaliated to the Morelos banner they saw at Pittodrie by coming up with a Spanish banner of their own, reading “de asientos vacios a ovejas que abusan sexualmente Aberdeen FC”, or in English: “of empty seats for sheep who sexually abuse Aberdeen FC”.
With the spotlight on fan behaviour as much as ever before, weeks of incidents were capped off by a moronic Hibs fan running onto the pitch trying to start on James Tavernier, before shiteing it as soon as Tavernier stood up against him.
Rangers totally dominated, and Hibs could have been down to 10 men within as many minutes if Darren McGregor had been sent off for his elbow on Morelos. Morelos couldn’t take his chances, and Rangers couldn’t take their chance to close the gap on Celtic, with Florian Kamberi equalising with 75 minutes played. Darren McGregor was eventually sent-off after all, for a second yellow in stoppage time.
Highlights.

Saturday 09/03/19


Livingston	3 - 1	St Johnstone

Two teams who haven’t really got going in 2019, but fair play to Livingston for responding in such a way to going down after Joe Shaughnessy’s early opener.
Highlights.


Celtic	0 - 0	Aberdeen

Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna may have been linked with Celtic in the summer, but before this game he announced he’d signed a deal with Trump International instead. A bold choice when you consider how popular Trump is in Aberdeen (not very) and also the world (not very).
This fixture is normally a bit of a goal-fest, with the last match between the two sides being a 3-4 Celtic win, but I put a bet on both teams to score, so it’s the first goalless draw since 1994.
Highlights.


Motherwell	3 - 0	Hamilton Academical

The two previous Lanarkshire derbies have been fiercely competitive, with Hamilton victorious when visiting Fir Park, and Motherwell taking the 3 points from the Hope CBD.
This game, however, was all but over in 10 minutes, with a David Turnbull brace putting daylight between the two teams, before Jake Hastie finished Accies off 25 minutes later.
Highlights.

Monday 11/03/19


St Mirren	0 - 1	Kilmarnock

Sickener for St Mirren, but an 87th minute goal from Liam Millar has ended Kilmarnock’s rotten run of 8 games without a win.
Highlights.

Tuesday 12/03/19 - Quarter-final replays


Rangers	0 - 2	Aberdeen

In part three of the epic saga, Aberdeen fans somehow managed to smuggle a blow-up mattress into Ibrox before this match.; yet, despite his best efforts to play as dirty as possible, Morelos managed to break his personal best, and go 2 games in a row without being sent-off against Aberdeen this season.
Game plan executed to perfection for Aberdeen as Niall McGinn capitalised on a dodgy Glen Kamara pass, and Conor McLennan rounded the result off an hour later.
Highlights.


Hearts	2 - 1

Shortly after Hearts meandered to a 1-1 draw with Thistle in the original fixture, their reserve team pumped Thistle’s 9-1, as if to rub salt into the wound.
Hearts went behind to a tap-in from Scott McDonald, but goals from Uche Ikpeazu and Sean Clare were the difference in the end.
Highlights.

Saturday 16/03/19


Hamilton Academical	1 - 0	Hearts

Sad news for Scottish football, after it was revealed that the Hope CBD Stadium, so-called after a cannabis oil company purchased the naming rights to New Douglas Park, would be renamed after just 6 months to the even more eccentric “Fountain of Youth Stadium”. This all comes after they were randomly disrespected by Lord Sugar on Twitter. Tough times to be an Accies fan for sure.
All of this was not enough to prevent Accies from getting one over Hearts, though, with Aaron McGowan’s goal the difference between the two sides.
This result also validates the first words in four months from 22 year old stroke victim Darren Thompson - “Hearts are shite.”
Highlights.


Aberdeen	1 - 1	Livingston

Another astonishingly insipid home performance from Aberdeen and possibly the coldest I’ve ever been at a football match.
Highlights.


Hibernian	2 - 0	Motherwell

Unfortunately ‘due to technical issues’ Hibs were unable to serve chips at Easter Road for this game.. Annoyingly, neither of Marc McNulty or David Gray’s goals were dinked over the keeper, as Hibs put some much-needed distance between themselves and an in-form Motherwell side.
Highlights.


Rangers	1 - 1	Kilmarnock

Before this match Rangers fans took to the offices of BBC Scotland in protest (I’m assuming?) against the unfair treatment they get on Sportscene.
Kilmarnock went ahead through Conor McAleny, who replaced an injured Eamonn Brophy, but Alfredo Morelos was able to equalise. Neither side will be entirely content with a draw, I feel.
Highlights.

Sunday 17/03/19


Dundee	0 - 1	Celtic

If you’re not willing to wait 96 minutes for goals, there was at least some entertainment in this game, as a man jumped down off one of the stands to chase after his tricolour that had just been confiscated by a steward.
If you do like waiting 96 minutes for your goals, then you were in luck, as that’s how long it took Odsonne Edouard to break the deadlock. No damage yet to Celtic’s plot armour.
Highlights.

Thursday 21/03/19

European Championship Qualifying


Kazakhstan	3 - 0	Scotland

All in all a very bad week for the Scottish men’s national football team. First we get absolutely done by the Northern Irish FA on twitter, and then we go on to get absolutely humiliated by Kazakhstan in our first qualifier. God help us.
Alex McLeish did remark that we started brightly, which is funny considering that we were 2-0 down within 10 minutes. There’s also this weird interview with Graeme Jones where he explains why the squad decided not to try to adjust to the different time-zones. Not sure the priorities are quite right in the Scotland camp.
The only highlight of the game as far as I’m concerned is when Sky lost pictures from Astana, but if you really want to see us get absolutely outclassed, then you can do so here.

Saturday 23/03/19

Scottish Challenge Cup


Connah’s Quay Nomads	1 - 3	Ross County

After a player of the round performance from Ross Stewart gave us the most Scottish photoshoot ever - without featuring a kilt or bagpipes - and helped Ross County into the Challenge Cup final, the country of Scotland could put their international misery behind them for a day to watch a Welsh team almost win the final of a Scottish cup competition.
The Nomads went ahead thanks to Michael Bakare 20 minutes in; it took until the 75th minute for County to turn it around. A quickfire double from Josh Mullin gave the Staggies the lead, before Jamie Lindsay secured what may not be Ross County’s last silverware of the season - they look likely to return to the Premiership as Champions.
Highlights.

Sunday 24/03/19


San Marino	0 - 2	Scotland

Where were you when Scotland went 70 minutes without scoring in San Marino? Would you like to experience it all over again? From Kenny McLean’s 4th minute opener, Johnny Russell’s almost-disappointing second goal, and that one moment where they got round the keeper and we actually thought they might score - relive it all here!
Finally, we continue with some action that actually happened this week.

Wednesday 27/03/19


St Johnstone	1 - 0	St Mirren

In the context of the whole season this doesn’t look like a bad result at all, but St Mirren will feel this is an awful point or three to drop.
The Buddies had the chance to go a goal ahead, but Simeon Jackson opted to try a weird panenka along the ground from his spot-kick, which Zander Clark had no trouble with. I mean it’s not as if it could all come down to one goal or one point for St Mirren at the end of the season, anyway.
Shortly after, Chris Kane put St Johnstone ahead by pouncing on a defensive error. Had Jackson’s penalty gone in, and the score remained the same, St Mirren would have been off the bottom before their must-win match against Dundee. They’ll be without Ethan Erhahon for that match after he was given a straight red for a poor tackle late in the match. Architects of their own downfall in this match, St Mirren.
Highlights.

Friday 29/03/19


Livingston	1 - 2	Hibernian

Livingston won’t have any worries of relegation, which is a miracle in itself considering how poor value they looked at the very beginning of the season. Meanwhile Hibs will have known that they could easily fall out of the top 6 with any missteps at this crucial point in the season.
Craig Halkett missed this match through an injury sustained prior to the game, and it was announced today he’d be leaving Livingston for Hearts at the end of the season - with this I reckon he’ll make the Scotland squad for the next series of international games.
In the end, goals from Paul Hanlon and Mark McNulty killed the game off in the space of 5 minutes, and Ryan Hardie’s late penalty was only a consolation for Livingston.
Highlights.

Saturday 30/03/19


St Mirren	2 - 1	Dundee

St Mirren may have been their own worst enemy in the middle of the week, but what a performance and result this is for them - and one which could well be fatal for Dundee.
Dundee went ahead after just 22 seconds through Ethan Robson, which could easily have destroyed any hopes St Mirren had of taking something out of the game, but Danny Mullen scored his third goal of the season - his third against Dundee - to reignite the Buddies’ hopes just 11 minutes later.
The winning goal came courtesy of speccy tube Brad Lyons, affording him the opportunity to premiere his speccy tube celebration in Saturday’s best exhibition of patter.
St Mirren leapfrog Dundee, and are looking much more likely to increase that gap at the moment than Dundee are to close it.
Highlights.


Motherwell	3 - 0	St Johnstone

This result confirms St Johnstone’s bottom 6 placement, and keeps Motherwell’s alive by a sliver.
Chris Cadden returning to the Motherwell bench will be a cause for optimism, and Motherwell looked improved when he came on, with Elliot Frear’s opener occurring 6 minutes after his substitution into the game, and David Turnbull doubling the lead 10 minutes later. Liam Craig had an early penalty saved for St Johnstone, and Richard Tait added a third to complete Saints’ capitulation in stoppage time.
Highlights.


Hearts	2 - 1	Aberdeen

Aberdeen remained without Shay Logan through injury, although he did pull on a kit for his stag do.
They went ahead thanks to Connor McLennan in the first half, but came out after the interval with apparently very little idea of how to play football. Sean Clare and Uche Ikpeazu got on the scoresheet to complete the Hearts comeback.
How it feels to be an Aberdeen fan right now can be summarised by Derek McInnes’ decision in the 86th minute to bring on centre-back Michael Devlin for our only dangerous attacker, Connor McLennan, in a Steven Caulker-esque move. I despair.
Highlights.


Kilmarnock	5 - 0	Hamilton

One of the most notable differences between Brian Rice’s Accies and his predecessor Martin Canning’s side is that Rice has set up much less defensively. As such, his side have been on the end of some right pumpings.
Highly-rated left-back prospect Greg Taylor scored his first ever goal for Kilmarnock, before a second half rout saw four other players on the scoresheet - Conor McAleny, Youssouf Mulumbu, Chris Burke, and Mikael Ndjoli.
This result means that Kilmarnock overtake Aberdeen into third, and will look to hold on to this European place. The job Steve Clarke has done is pretty incredible. Hamilton will be looking cautiously at St Mirren and Dundee beneath them.
Highlights.

Sunday 31/03/19


Celtic	2 - 1	Rangers

You already know how this one went down.
One man whose name shot up in the estimations of 95% of /soccer yesterday is a certain Scott Brown. The events of this match almost entirely revolved around him.
After Odsonne Édouard opened the scoring, the first notable incident involving Brown was the Celtic captain baiting Alfredo Morelos into elbowing him in the face, and laughing at him as he walked off back down the tunnel.
Ryan Kent levelled magically for Rangers, and Celtic too went down to 10 men after Dedryck Boyata went off-injured after their third sub.
When James Tavernier nonchalantly enabled James Forrest’s 86th-minute winner, Brown’s gameplaying saw him get punched in the face by Ryan Kent, which seems to have made both players more of a hero to each side.
Andy Halliday was then sent-off after trying to brawl in the tunnel, just before Brown gave a brilliant post-match interview where he claims not to remember what happened with Kent, and that the post-match scuffle with Halliday was just the Rangers man coming over to congratulate him.
All things considered, a good day for shithousing.
Highlights.
So after all that, the table looks as follows:

Table

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Form
1	Celtic	31	23	4	4	69	17	+52	73	W W D W W
2	Rangers	31	17	9	5	67	24	+43	60	L D D W W
3	Kilmarnock	31	15	9	7	44	28	+16	54	W D W D L
4	Aberdeen	31	15	7	9	47	36	+11	52	L D D L W
5	Hearts	31	15	5	11	37	36	+1	50	W L W L D
6	Hibernian	31	13	9	9	47	33	+14	48	W W D W W
7	Motherwell	31	13	4	14	36	41	-5	43	W L W D L
8	St Johnstone	31	12	5	14	30	42	-12	41	L W L L L
9	Livingston	31	10	8	13	33	33	0	38	L D W L W
10	Hamilton Academical	31	7	3	20	20	66	-46	24	L W L W L
11	St Mirren	31	5	5	21	23	58	-35	20	W L W D D
12	Dundee	31	4	6	21	25	64	-39	18	L L L L L

Championship Round
Relegation Round
That was a lot so thanks for giving it a read. See yous next Monday for more of the same!
^{Check out /ScottishFootball for good patter and discussion of the SPFL}
^{Last week’s matches were rounded up}^here
^{● data from}^{soccerway.com}
^{● thanks mods for}^2soccer2bot ^{but it’s still broken}

The Scottish Premiership reached week 9 before I had a football-induced breakdown; so, if you have a spontaneous craving for a thousand words on Aberdeen Football Club’s lacklustre start to the season - and a roundup of all the other events over the last two weeks in Scottish football - just wait until you see this!

Scottish Premiership

Fixtures

KEY MATCH


Sat	20/10/18	Heart of Midlothian	2 - 1	Aberdeen

I’ll admit that my personal biases may have influenced me to write about Hearts-Aberdeen instead of Celtic-Hibs, but since I’m the one forgoing a uni essay to write this on the train, I can do what I like.
Hearts have deservedly garnered the attention of a wider audience following an almost perfect first 7 games, in stark contrast to the mid-table obscurity (well, as obscure as you can be under Craig Levein) of last season. They ended up making up the numbers in the top 6 following the end-of-season split, losing all 5 games against the teams above them.
Meanwhile, Aberdeen have been busy embarrassing themselves. The club received a 50-50 split of over 20,000 tickets for Sunday’s League Cup semi-final clash against Rangers, despite “commonsense” dictating the Glasgow team should have the “Lion’s Share”. Unfortunately, under half of these tickets have been sold, so Aberdeen have been forced to return part of their allocation. The whole thing is a bit tin-pot and, like I said, embarrassing, so I can’t really bring myself to write much more than that. The silver-lining to this is that we did get BBC Sportsound tweeting a picture of current Aberdeen captain, Graeme Shinnie, holding the head of a decapitated, former Aberdeen captain and current Rangers player, Ryan Jack. Every cloud.
The fact remains, this season’s Aberdeen are a far cry from the club that finished 2nd last season (and as such were one of the teams to ease past the Jambos at the end). Currently it looks as if they would be lucky to replicate that Hearts performance. It simply has not been the Dons’ season so far. Star defender Scott McKenna served the second match of his ban following his outrageous tackle on Odsonne Edouard, and, following calls from the Aberdeen chairman for a summit on the state of Scottish football, demanding greater transparency (a move I am very proud of,) the SFA finally published their reasoning for the retrospective ban. I am now going to talk about this, but would like to add the disclaimer that I know it was a terrible tackle and I know that he deserves to be banned. If you just want a breakdown of Saturday’s action, skip the rest of this paragraph. Now, I am attempting to study law, but it doesn’t take a brilliant legal mind to realise that paragraph 11 of the SFA report, specifically the point at which the referee states he saw the incident but was unsure of the extent of the contact, clashes a bit with the SFA’s Judicial Panel Protocol (available here for your interest), specifically sections 13.3.1 and 13.3.3.2. I just don’t believe for one moment that not one of the officials saw McKenna completely clatter Edouard, and I’m frustrated by the gymnastics taken by the SFA to ban an Aberdeen player for this sort of conduct when the likes of Alan McGregor and Leigh Griffiths have gotten away with stamps and kicks which have genuinely not been seen by the refs. I can’t believe it’s gotten me so tilted that I’ve actually whipped out the JPP. Riddy.
Anyway, now I’ve got that off my chest…
Fears that the Hearts bubble may have burst following the 5-month injury layoffs of Uche Ikpeazu and John Souttar seem to be unfounded. Hearts were fully in control for the opening half, but this may be down to the unique Aberdonian big-game tactic of letting the opposition attack you until they score.
When Hearts did take the lead through a Djoum header, they remained in control, before the opportunity to double their lead from the spot came in massively controversial fashion. There was absolutely nothing in the challenge which saw Lewis Ferguson penalised against Steven Naismith, which you can see 13 seconds into the highlight video below. Naismith tucked away the resulting pen.
Aberdeen were significantly better in the second half but trailed off after a Gary Mackay-Steven penalty pulled one back. Hearts were awarded the third penalty of the game, but this time Joe Lewis kept out Naismith’s effort. Hearts now have a 10 point advantage over Aberdeen, and stay 3 points ahead of Celtic at the top of the table. I imagine they will extend their advantage against Dundee on Tuesday, whilst Celtic prepare for European action and the League Cup semi-final.
Full highlights of this game here.
Final statement: Aberdeen have now faced every other member of last season’s top 6, and have yet to get a win. The Derek McInnes known for failing to deliver solid tactical performances in big games is going to be under the microscope soon because Aberdeen won’t finish in a European spot by bullying the bottom 5. If the Dons are anything but completely bodied by Rangers in Saturday’s semi-final it’ll be a surprise.
Happy birthday Craig Levein.

Saturday’s other matches


Celtic	4 - 2	Hibernian

Just a quick introductory note - “over 2.5 goals” is an extremely sensible bet in most Hibs matches.
Capturing the hearts and imagination of the Scottish football audience this week is a bizarre song about Leigh Griffiths and bees. The only way I can think to describe it is that it’s what you’d get if you took Flight of the Conchords’ “Albi The Racist Dragon”, but replaced ‘Albi’ with ‘Leigh’, ‘dragon’ with ‘Griffiths’, and put the air-quotes around the other two words.
Anyway, it is with a heavy heart I must announce that Celtic finally appear to have a degree of motivation about them. Despite mauling St Johnstone 6-0 last week this is by far their most competent and comprehensive performance of the season.
Meanwhile one can’t help but wonder what this Hibs team could achieve with some defensive solidity. One has to assume they wouldn’t be able to attack as fluidly, so for that reason we are glad that they are the way that they are. They were without their ubiquitous right-back David Gray, so switched to a back 3, and as such conceded 4 goals.
Within 20 minutes Celtic had gone 2-0 up thanks to Olivier Ntcham and Tom Rogic, before captain Scott Brown was forced off the pitch with injury. Hibs threatened to come back twice in the second half, with Flo Kamberi’s effort cancelled out by Edouard, before Martin Boyle’s goal to make it 3-2 received the same treatment.
Hibs fall down to 5th, Celtic now breathing down Hearts’ neck.
Highlights of the best encounter of the weekend here.


Motherwell	0 - 1	St Johnstone

Quite a big result for both teams, putting 5 points between St Johnstone and the bottom of the pack, and making sure Motherwell remain firmly in amongst it.
Just like my match report, this game never really took off, and it lasted 92 minutes before Jason Kerr broke the deadlock and made sure the points headed to Perthshire. Motherwell, whose strike force terrorised Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final last season, look bereft of creativity. St Johnstone have done well to take 3 points after being battered about the park, credit to them.
Highlights here.


Livingston	4 - 0	Dundee

I can’t believe I’m finally saying it, but it has finally happened. Neil McCann has been sacked! As the international break drew to a close with no sign of any change I was wondering if Dundee would persist and we’d see a Livingston ’05/’06 type season.
Although we may still see that. Jim MacIntyre’s arrival may not have been in time for Dundee to take advantage of the ‘new manager bounce’, because they appear to have been absolutely done here.
Gary Holt was on the radio today drawing attention to the fact that 3 of the 4 goals today came from defenders. Given that previous manager Kenny Miller’s plan was to source goals from Kenny Miller, it’s probably for the best that Declan Gallagher, Craig Halkett and Alan Lithgow have got their eye in early.
Steven Lawless added another long range goal to his collection to score the third, although he did not mean it, and I will not let anyone convince me otherwise. A proper rout to welcome Jim McIntyre to Dundee. Livi comfortably in the top half, they reside in 4th.
Have a look at the highlights here.


St Mirren	1 - 2	Kilmarnock

Oran Kearney’s step into full-time management may well be wiping years off his life at this point. He must be hankering back to the days of teaching PE, winning a few games of football and an Irish cup on the side, and feeling a degree of comfort in the decisions that had led him to this point. Jack Ross’ St Mirren team were a force to be reckoned with in the Championship, ousting teams fancied far heavier than them to the title, but having lost talisman Lewis Morgan and hired um… Alan Stubbs, they’re a dumpster fire that Kearney can’t seem to put out. 4 losses in a row from his first 5 games, the only comfort being Dundee, the source of their only 3 points in Gameweek 1, being equally terrible.
Kilmarnock, on the other hand, have had no such managerial woe, they’ve been a total revelation under Steve Clarke. If I’m not mistaken, this result means no team has more points in 2018 than Killie! Between that and having the best pies in world football, not a bad time to be part of the Rugby Park loyal.
They’ve achieved all this without relying too heavily on last season’s Premiership Top Scorer Kris Boyd, a fact which was pointed out to him during his part-time punditry gig on Sunday.
Kearney’s side actually took the lead through Adam Hammill’s 14th minute goal, and held on until half-time, but Alan Power and Aaron Tshibola scored 12 minutes apart before halfway in the second half, and saw out the rest of the game.
Full highlights.

Sunday’s Match


Hamilton Academical	1 - 4	Rangers

Kyle Lafferty had to sit this game out after dropping out of the Northern Irish squad to spend some time with his newly born daughter, or, if the tabloids are to be believed, to send dick-pics on snapchat. I forget what the official reasoning was.
Anyway, contrary to what the scoreline may suggest, Rangers made pretty hard work of this one.
They were up 1-0 through a well-taken first-half goal from Ryan Kent, but in the 80th minute Stephen Boyd scored the pick of the weekend’s goals to give me the faintest hope that Rangers might just be at it again. 15 minutes later, James Tavernier has scored two penalties and Alfredo Morelos has snuck in a goal just before full-time. Life’s a bitch.
Highlights of a fun one here.
Hearts stay 3 points ahead at the top, Aberdeen now 5 points adrift of the top 6 making up a mid-table with St Johnstone. Motherwell, Hamilton, St Mirren and Dundee all languishing.

Table

#	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Form
1	Heart of Midlothian	9	7	1	1	16	7	+9	22	W D W L W
2	Celtic	9	6	1	2	17	6	+11	19	D L W W W
3	Kilmarnock	9	6	1	2	15	8	+7	19	L W W W W
4	Livingston	9	5	3	1	12	5	+7	18	W D W D W
5	Rangers	9	5	2	2	22	9	+13	17	W W L W W
6	Hibernian	9	5	2	2	21	10	+11	17	W W W W L
7	Aberdeen	9	3	3	3	10	9	+1	12	D W L W L
8	St Johnstone	9	3	2	4	8	18	-10	11	D L L L W
9	Hamilton Academical	9	2	0	7	7	20	-13	6	L W L L L
10	Motherwell	9	1	2	6	8	15	-7	5	L L L D L
11	St Mirren	9	1	1	7	5	19	-14	4	D L L L L
12	Dundee	9	1	0	8	5	20	-15	3	L L W L L

Championship Round Relegation Round

BEST OF THE REST

Scottish Championship


Sat	20/10/18	Greenock Morton	1 - 0	Falkirk

Falkirk manager Ray McKinnon’s return to Cappielow had Morton not so much rolling out the red carpet as dishing out red cards to their support, who weren’t particularly welcoming in the first place. Incompetent Falkirk goalkeeper Leo Fasan was sent off 49 minutes in, and Robert McHugh made sure his former manager wouldn’t leave with a point.
Falkirk cast off from the rest of the table by 4 points.
Comprehensive highlights here.


Sat	20/10/18	Ross County	2 - 1	Ayr United

A top of the table clash between the two form-teams of the division. Ross County leapfrog Ayr into first thanks to two first half goals from Billy McKay and Josh Mullin, before Lawrence Shankland inevitably pulled one back.
Highlights.

NATIONAL TEAM

UEFA Nations League


Thu	11/10/18	Israel	2 - 1	Scotland

trainspotting_its_shite_being_scottish.mp4
Every so often as a Scottish football fan an event occurs which instils a fragment of hope and promise in an otherwise barren wasteland where one’s heart would reside. Such events could be, for example: Leigh Griffiths’ second free-kick against England; the sacking of Gordon Strachan; or the creation of the UEFA Nations League. Invariably, this hope is snatched away almost immediately, by events such as: Stuart Armstrong not booting it away; the hiring of Alex McLeish, a manager who has been out of work for two years, apparently with good reason; or losing by a very kind 2-1 scoreline having been completely outplayed by the 94th ranked team in the world.
Our national team is infamous for the problem of having our two perceivably most-talented players being left-backs, but, as pointed out by captain Andy Robertson himself, Alex McLeish has opted not to play a left-back in his system.
I will give Alex the benefit of the doubt here, Robertson as a full-back and Tierney on the left of a back 3 is an experiment he had to try, or he would have been slaughtered. However, that which I will not forgive him for is playing high-flying Bournemouth left-winger Ryan Fraser as the right sided full-back, the kind of thing that results in him withdrawing from the squad at the earliest opportunity, perpetuating the feeling that a lot of Scotland’s players don’t really want to play for Scotland. As someone whose dream it was as a wee boy to play for their country, it’s not a practice I have much sympathy for, but it happens.
Anyway, I digress. As I said, fully outclassed. Scotland went into the break 0-1 up, with Charlie Mulgrew converting a penalty, but thanks to a Dor Peretz goal and a classy finish from Kieran Tierney into his own net, Israel got their deserved result. Here’s a video of James Forrest running to cheer us all up.
Highlights.
Scottish League Cup semi-finals at the weekend, meaning the fixture organisation all gets a bit confusing, and I have to work out how I’m gonna do this. See yous when I see yous.
^{Check out /ScottishFootball for good patter and quality discussion of the SPFL}
^{Last week’s roundup can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/soccecomments/9methe/fitba_roundup_spfl_gameweek_8/?}
^{● data from}^{soccerway.com}
^{● generated by}^soccerbot

Period: 362.29 days

	Submissions	Comments
Total	1000	75881
Rate (per day)	2.76	208.30
Unique Redditors	596	12322
Combined Score	470147	874502

Top Submitters' Top Submissions

11940 points, 28 submissions: LFC_Joe26
1. What Lionel Messi's record-breaking La Liga season in 2011/12 would've been like in FPL (1038 points, 209 comments)
2. South Korea win the Asian Games. Son no longer has to do mandatory 2-year military service. (830 points, 62 comments)
3. Callum Wilson, the brilliant troll (791 points, 66 comments)
4. Confirmed FPL schedule for GW32 to GW35 (@BenCrellin) (758 points, 151 comments)
5. FPL’s all-time XI has 2 new members from this season. (Credit: u/courage2fly) (750 points, 82 comments)
6. Hoping for a repeat of these scorelines tomorrow night! (578 points, 103 comments)
7. The FPL manager of the week is overall 40th in the world. This is the first time FPL have stopped allowing players who used a chip to win the weekly prize. (572 points, 109 comments)
8. OFFICIAL: Bournemouth sign Dominic Solanke for £19 million from Liverpool (526 points, 116 comments)
9. Fewest goals conceded after 16 games ever, Who’s got double Liverpool defence? (515 points, 142 comments)
10. Trent & Robertson's interview about their assist competition (476 points, 56 comments)
11438 points, 31 submissions: FPLFeeker
1. Wan-Bissaka wins CPFC Players' Player of the Season (835 points, 38 comments)
2. Phelan & Solskjaer simultaneously dumping Pogba on wildcard (824 points, 16 comments)
3. How fast is Richarlison's price going to drop? (662 points, 157 comments)
4. Hazard kissing goodbye to the 11k-plus managers who've sold after one blank (608 points, 68 comments)
5. OGS appointed Man Utd manager on permanent basis (594 points, 52 comments)
6. Wan-Bissaka voted Palace's Player of the Month (513 points, 85 comments)
7. Hazard pictured in training today (Tuesday) (493 points, 51 comments)
8. Hodgson: "Aaron Wan-Bissaka's fit again now" (417 points, 52 comments)
9. Richarlison straight red card (395 points, 434 comments)
10. Puel on Maguire: "I can confirm he is going to Manchester...but only for a couple of hours with us" (373 points, 19 comments)
10053 points, 19 submissions: CJTrags
1. Captain Selector: Return of the Catto (1171 points, 217 comments)
2. GW28: Catto time (738 points, 198 comments)
3. GW: ...erm... who cares it’s CATTO TIME!! (674 points, 61 comments)
4. Welcome to your new GW captain selector... “Catto” (663 points, 99 comments)
5. GW29 - Capitano Catto (650 points, 161 comments)
6. Captain Catto (570 points, 168 comments)
7. GW32: Catto time!! (561 points, 123 comments)
8. GW33: Catto time!! (546 points, 106 comments)
9. GW30: Catto Time!! (545 points, 141 comments)
10. GW31: Catto time! (518 points, 137 comments)
6510 points, 17 submissions: sammy123_
1. Ben Foster is such a a casual (1502 points, 61 comments)
2. 'No Room For Racism' kit design now available in FPL (675 points, 40 comments)
3. Shane Duffy has transferred and captained himself in his own FPL team (613 points, 102 comments)
4. Not a single clean sheet in a complete Premier League matchday for the first time in over eight years (Nov 2010) (549 points, 45 comments)
5. Sarri: Eden Hazard's injury isn't serious and he should be able to play against Fulham on Sunday (392 points, 125 comments)
6. 2019/20 Fixtures are Out! (295 points, 143 comments)
7. Son Update: Has made it into the Asian Games Final (294 points, 90 comments)
8. PSA: There have been changes to the weekly prize system in FPL! (281 points, 40 comments)
9. Mo Salah will NOT face any retrospective disciplinary action from FA over penalty incident in yesterday's game with Newcastle. FA say it did not meet threshold for deception of a match official (232 points, 151 comments)
10. Chelsea XI (Hazard benched) (225 points, 171 comments)
5239 points, 18 submissions: StacyVD
1. We're almost there... (756 points, 69 comments)
2. Clean sheet probability GW10 (328 points, 133 comments)
3. Clean sheet probability GW17 (318 points, 125 comments)
4. Clean sheet probability GW31 (313 points, 80 comments)
5. The xG-Files (289 points, 20 comments)
6. Clean sheet probability GW12 (287 points, 96 comments)
7. Clean sheet probability GW13 (285 points, 100 comments)
8. Clean sheet probability GW24 (283 points, 75 comments)
9. Clean sheet probability GW32 (279 points, 87 comments)
10. How reliable have the CS odds been so far? (278 points, 19 comments)
4700 points, 11 submissions: team_top_heavy
1. Andy Robertson is now the highest scoring Fantasy Premier League defender, and the first to break the 200 point mark. (1123 points, 129 comments)
2. We need to warn fantasy serie A (496 points, 42 comments)
3. One of our fellow fantasy premier league players needs your help! (483 points, 43 comments)
4. Record holder for the lowest points in a gameweek, Jon Walters has retired from football. (408 points, 63 comments)
5. Brendan Rodgers announced as the new Leicester manager (405 points, 49 comments)
6. They’re practically cheap left wingers that get points for clean-sheets. With 12 assists between them, is owning all of them the way to go this season? (398 points, 154 comments)
7. Stolen from soccer (after the shitposting) (352 points, 36 comments)
8. Robertson is now the 4th highest scoring player in the game! (290 points, 92 comments)
9. Last time we’ll see this god awful graphic again (271 points, 9 comments)
10. A tough week for Ville Rönkä as his transfers in (Zanka and Pogba) get 4 points and his transfers out (Fraser and Robertson) get 16 points. (270 points, 108 comments)
4641 points, 11 submissions: 404randomguy404
1. Manchester United announces that manager Jose Mourinho has left the club with immediate effect. (911 points, 223 comments)
2. BREAKING: VAR has been voted through by Premier League clubs and will be introduced for the start of next season (842 points, 109 comments)
3. Wolves sign Raul Jimenez permanently. (838 points, 82 comments)
4. Son could be back for GW24 but don't expect an immediate return to the starting XI. “I wasn’t fully prepared,” he revealed after Korea were dumped out of the Asian Cup by Qatar. “I felt physically empty. I was losing sleep - I should have looked after my condition better." (364 points, 44 comments)
5. Eddie Howe reports that Callum Wilson (hamstring) has responded well to treatment and the Cherries top scorer is in contention to face Wolves this weekend. (347 points, 77 comments)
6. Doherty wins PFA Fan's Player of the Month award (281 points, 57 comments)
7. Andy Robertson (hamstring) 'took part' in training ahead of the Belgium game.... Nothing to suggest the left-back will be out for any significant period - Sky reports that he could miss the start of the 2019/20 are way off. (254 points, 6 comments)
8. [Shitpost] Warnock on his plans for the Spurs match : “All you’ve got to do to beat Tottenham is have a Messi. Maybe Josh Murphy is our Messi - we’ll have to call him Jessi or something!” (218 points, 48 comments)
9. Rodgers reveals Jamie Vardy will be fit to face Fulham on Saturday. "He took a bad knock [in a collision with Ben Foster last weekend] and had a couple of stitches in his tongue. He’s trained very well and he’ll be fine. The stitches haven’t stopped him talking though!" (201 points, 38 comments)
10. Update on Sead Kolasinac: Sead misses today's match due to tightness in his thigh (196 points, 95 comments)
3914 points, 1 submission: the_coo_gee
1. Petition to change upvotes and downvotes to green and red arrows from FPL (3914 points, 65 comments)
3892 points, 1 submission: Septon_Moon
1. Please Kepa ! (3892 points, 57 comments)
3863 points, 4 submissions: harschil
1. May his soul rest in peace. (2301 points, 95 comments)
2. Always the same (767 points, 17 comments)
3. 1 pt per GW. (599 points, 9 comments)
4. Ready? (196 points, 25 comments)
3819 points, 5 submissions: DragonStoned3
1. Setting up my team for one last time (1419 points, 63 comments)
2. Our shinning star (1141 points, 53 comments)
3. PSA: Underneath all that hair, Salah is in fact bald! (693 points, 35 comments)
4. Triple captained Sane and tripled my rank :( (293 points, 19 comments)
5. Relax it's only fucking Cardiff!!...... Next minute.... (273 points, 21 comments)
3803 points, 6 submissions: cguinnesstout
1. Every FPL manager right now! (1086 points, 97 comments)
2. Missing - Mo Salah (975 points, 65 comments)
3. TAA now on the DREAM TEAM! (680 points, 54 comments)
4. Knee Jerk United Kit? (672 points, 62 comments)
5. Man Utd news: Marcus Rashford back in training ahead of Huddersfield clash (202 points, 38 comments)
6. Richarlison has more goals than Hazard and the same as Raz. (188 points, 131 comments)
3524 points, 7 submissions: AlliAyewOKane
1. Fellow Sterling owners, I feel your pain (1777 points, 107 comments)
2. It seems like FPL have taken action against the guy with nearly 20,000 teams (401 points, 101 comments)
3. An update on the guy who made thousands of FPL accounts - he has at least 19,784 accounts (309 points, 193 comments)
4. THIS IS NOT A DRILL - LOVREN HAS FALLEN TO 4.9M (281 points, 28 comments)
5. Multi-accounters and what can be done about them (263 points, 98 comments)
6. Patrick van Aanholt, FPL Legend (Colorized, 2018) (247 points, 31 comments)
7. There's a guy who has made over 4000 individual teams this season (246 points, 168 comments)
3497 points, 7 submissions: ASongOfLifeAndLiars
1. Weekly reminder to never bet against this guy (938 points, 84 comments)
2. Lacazette owners robbed (791 points, 23 comments)
3. GW27 - Aguero (No game), Auba (SOU), Casuals never fail to amuse me (407 points, 106 comments)
4. The Dullard (template) FH32 team... (383 points, 261 comments)
5. Good thing Cardiff got relegated, as the FPL devs would've had a long summer trying to work out whether to list this guy as a DEF, MID or FWD (364 points, 16 comments)
6. For those not captaining Mane because of his poor away form... (358 points, 57 comments)
7. The brakes are off, it's time for... (256 points, 12 comments)
3469 points, 5 submissions: Mik-Hail-tal
1. Salah owners right now (1034 points, 96 comments)
2. Abandon ship! (786 points, 54 comments)
3. Basically the entire FPL-community right now. (668 points, 115 comments)
4. Premier League schedule 24th Nov. - 3rd Jan. (660 points, 69 comments)
5. If the season was ... (321 points, 74 comments)
3337 points, 3 submissions: jake_xalta
1. There is a new star in town. Goodison Catto. (2015 points, 52 comments)
2. Can Brendan Rogers be trusted? (765 points, 56 comments)
3. [SHITPOST] Real problems we face everyday (557 points, 48 comments)
3235 points, 5 submissions: DerpJungler
1. Sleeping before deadline (993 points, 42 comments)
2. [Shitpost] How it feels when it's Saturday and there's no Premier League games (954 points, 39 comments)
3. A friend of mine took a -64 hit instead of playing WC, and quit the game. I decided to take over his team and see what I can do. This is proof that you can easily get up in the ranks! (605 points, 95 comments)
4. Ranieri to reward his players with McDonalds for every clean sheet - Fulham defense to be essential soon (400 points, 36 comments)
5. I hate Mitrovic & Callum Wilson. (283 points, 55 comments)
3094 points, 4 submissions: daire98
1. It sill hurts.. (1122 points, 19 comments)
2. Look how they massacred my boy 😭 (908 points, 43 comments)
3. Sneaky Fox (804 points, 14 comments)
4. Roger knows (260 points, 12 comments)
3075 points, 1 submission: micro_donk
1. Every Jimenez performance summed up (3075 points, 120 comments)
3025 points, 8 submissions: TrustMe_I_lie
1. Request to change the sidebar picture during this international break (834 points, 19 comments)
2. Huddersfield have been relegated to the Championship (445 points, 80 comments)
3. Player Price Changes (May 13, 2019) (435 points, 41 comments)
4. Chelsea winger Marcos Alonso signs a contract extension till 2023 (326 points, 45 comments)
5. Shoutout to the people who've regularly contributed throughout the season (319 points, 44 comments)
6. Mods went overboard with raising awareness of the sticky thread (244 points, 11 comments)
7. FPL Scout Recommended GW36 Lineup - 90 points (236 points, 44 comments)
8. Aaron Ramsey withdraws from Wales squad due to birth of his baby. (186 points, 19 comments)
2926 points, 6 submissions: bigluke575
1. Hazard Upvote (and Farewell) Party! (773 points, 123 comments)
2. The Pre-Season Guide to rule ALL Pre-Season Guides (592 points, 39 comments)
3. Chelsea XI v Tottenham | Kepa benched 😂 (584 points, 64 comments)
4. Fraudentine's Day (487 points, 60 comments)
5. 2018/19 Cherry Picker #1: GAMEWEEK 2 (270 points, 79 comments)
6. Sheffield United promoted to the Premier League! (220 points, 59 comments)
2912 points, 4 submissions: An_Internet_Account
1. Harry Kane didn't hurt his ankle, he just wanted a career change (1218 points, 47 comments)
2. What step have you reached today? (616 points, 182 comments)
3. Don't fall for it (541 points, 16 comments)
4. Suggestion box for everyone's favorite manager (537 points, 23 comments)
2878 points, 3 submissions: abdallahlotfi
1. [OFFTOPIC] Absolute class from Cardiff fans (2283 points, 83 comments)
2. BREAKING : Claude Puel sacked by Leicester FC (325 points, 100 comments)
3. Arsenal XI - Auba and Laca start (270 points, 143 comments)
2766 points, 2 submissions: Martinezdufc
1. Cheers, (1611 points, 69 comments)
2. Get your priorities straight (1155 points, 34 comments)
2725 points, 7 submissions: ItsLukeTheSpook
1. PSA: LOOK AT THE FUCKING UPVOTES/DOWNVOTES, WE DID IT GUYS (1145 points, 28 comments)
2. Sol Bamba's shirt: 'The ref asked if I took it off, I said 'no'', says Cardiff defender (482 points, 42 comments)
3. Fulham XI v Tottenham | Mitrovic and Babel start; Kamara fucked off to Saturn (283 points, 54 comments)
4. [Mildly Interesting] % of time PL clubs have spent winning, drawing, or losing so far (223 points, 32 comments)
5. Liverpool XI v Fulham | Shaqiri, Salah, and Mané starts (203 points, 111 comments)
6. Manchester City XI v Everton | Mahrez and Sané and Jesus start; KDB and Aguero and Sterling on bench (197 points, 243 comments)
7. West Ham XI v Burnley | Arnie starts! (192 points, 57 comments)

Top Commenters

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So, the FA cup is done, it was an interesting weekend for football, if not for the FPL. Now that we're closing in on the fifth round, the legendary Blank Game week(s) are coming up, and I'm dangerously unqualified to analyse what happens next (so I'm going to do it anyway).

Gameweek 26 -

If you're saving your Triple Captain and your Bench Boost, there will be a blank gameweek in GW26 - teams that don't play in this fixture will have a double gameweek later in the season, and that week is likely to be the best time to play your Triple Captain

Who's involved:

Southampton play Man United on Sunday 26th of February in the final of the Football League Cup, so won't be available to play their Premier League game scheduled for this weekend.

Who's affected:

Southampton are due to play Arsenal, Man United are due to play Man City. These games are now guaranteed postponed, none of these teams have a Premier League game scheduled for GW26 (a Blank Game Week or BGW). For obvious reasons, try to make sure that you can field a team of 11 players whilst these teams are not playing.
Currently, these matches have not been rescheduled, but on the basis of previous seasons, these will be between GW32 - GW37. The most likely weeks are GW34 or 37, but these are not nailed on yet. Matches played in this week (a Double Game Week or DGW) will be counted into the TOTAL score, meaning a correct captaincy pick will make or break many of your seasons.

Gameweek	Southampton	Arsenal	Man City	Man United
26	Arsenal (H)	Southampton (A)	Man Utd (H)	Man City (A)
32	West Brom (A)	Crystal Palace (A)	Hull (H)	Sunderland (A)
33	Man City (H)	Middlesbrough (A)	Southampton (A)	Chelsea (H)
34	Chelsea (A)	Sunderland (H)	West Brom (H)	Burnley (A)
35	Hull (H)	Spurs (A)	Middlesbrough (A)	Swansea (H)
36	Liverpool (A)	Man Utd (H)	Crystal Palace (H)	Arsenal (A)
37	Middlesbrough (A)	Stoke (A)	Leicester (H)	Spurs (A)

Ones to watch

With Southampton's back line in tatters following Fonte's departure and Van Dijk's recent injury, the team doesn't have much in the way of FPL assets. Long may be returning to form following his goal against Liverpool to put them through to the final, and Rodriguez is turning heads as a cheap 4th or 5th midfielder. Forster is playing well, but with Yoshida and Betrand standing in for the regular centre-backs, the Southampton penalty area isn't the Fort Knox that it was at the start of the season. In my opinion, Southampton don't have a strong captaincy pick, unless you fancy Forster against Arsenal and Chelsea or Middlesborough
Arsenal are playing well week to week, and it's little wonder that Cech, Koscielny, Bellerin and Sanchez are all amongst the highest selected players in their position. There have been concerns about Giroud's impact, particularly on Sanchez's striking potential, however Giroud has looked less convincing recently and Wenger needs a good finish to the season to keep his job. Expect big things from this team, and expect many managers to Captain Sanchez against Southampton and Sunderland/Stoke. Follow the crowd or pick a differential? Only time will tell, and I'll see you in the rant thread!
Man City have the players. They have the skill. They have Kun. What they don't seem to have recently is a solid team. Be careful when picking players here, Guardiola likes to rotate his squad, so it's entirely possible that any player you draft in to play for a City DGW won't play twice at all. Sterling, De Bruyne & Silva are playing well in midfield, and of course the legenday Aguero. Due to the rotation issue, picking a captain that is guaranteed to play a full 180 minutes is hard, but if you're picking a City player against West Brom/Leicester and Man United (never write off a derby, anything can happen), Aguero is the sort of player that can go on a rampage and score 7 goals in two games.This will either be an explosive performance or a failure to launch, but if it goes right City's lower ownership could help to close the gap.
Man United are also performing well, however with Man City and Spurs/Burnley in the space of a week, it could go very well or very badly. Pogba and Ibrahimovic are my picks for the United team due to their reliablity and week-to-week scoring potential, but fixtures make me wonder whether it's worth persuing them. Burnley have had a fantastic run at home, Spurs are still chasing the title and Man City are Man City. If you want a captain pick, go for Ibrahimovic, but this feels risky to me.

Gameweek 28 Blanks:

The FA Cup 5th round draw has been completed as of today (the 30th of January). Teams that play and win their 5th round match will play in the quarter final, which clashes with GW28. All of the Premiership teams involved have managed to avoid each other, meaning that if they all get past their opponents, it'll be a big double game week, and a Bench Boost could result in 15 players playing 180 minutes. Can you say ka-ching?
Currently there is no guarantee that any blanks will occur - although none of the 8 premiership have drawn each other, if all 8 winners of the 5th round are non-premiership teams, GW28 is a normal gameweek.

FA Cup 5th Round Matches

All FA Cup matches take place on the 18th of February at 3pm
Millwall v Derby/Leicester
Huddersfield Town v Manchester City
Wolves v Chelsea
Middlesbrough v Oxford United
Sutton United v Arsenal
Blackburn v Manchester United
Fulham v Spurs
Burnley v Lincoln

Games that may be affected:

Man City v Stoke (if Man City beat Huddersfield)
Crystal Palace v Spurs (if Spurs beat Fulham)
Middlesbrough v Sunderland (if Middlesbrough beat Oxford United)
Arsenal v Leicester (if Arsenal beat Sutton United OR if Leicester beat Derby in their replay on the 8th of February and also beat Millwall)
Southampton v Man Utd (if Man Utd beat Blackburn)
Liverpool v Burnley (if Burnley beat Lincoln)
Chelsea v Watford (if Chelsea beat Wolves)
As soon as betting odds are released, I will update this post, although it's fair to say that the premier league sides will be favoured to progress to the next round.

"Safe" fixtures for GW28:

Bournemouth v West Ham
Everton v West Brom
Hull v Swansea
None of these teams are in the 5th round, so they will all definitely play their GW28 matches. As the draw has kept all Premier league teams apart, we won't know anything more about blanks until then. Whilst it's possible to plan around betting odds, the FA cup is renowned for being unpredictable.
Betting odds should be out within the next week or so - I'll be teaming up with the TheFantasyPL guys (check out their latest team selection blog to pick through the players most likely to be affected and the best replacements to fill their boots during the Blanks.
I won't be keeping this post updated from here on out, but as always, if there are there any players you think need to be watched or avoided, feel free to discuss!

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17:50

THAT'S IT!

Time to say goodbye on the blog now as we transfer our focus to the Monday Night Football action! See you all again in the morning.
17:12

WATCH: LAMPARD ON JOSE

Derby County boss Frank Lampard admits he has sympathy with his former boss Jose Mourinho.
16:35

CHELSEA WANT ANOTHER HAZARD

Eden Hazard’s younger brother Ethan could join his brother at Chelsea, according to the Daily Mirror.
The 15-year-old currently plays for AFC Tubize in Belgium.
Kylian Hazard and Belgium international Thorgan Hazard are already both on the books at Chelsea.
15:30

BREAKING NEWS

One of the country’s highest profile football agents, David Manasseh has today been suspended from all football-related activity by the FA for three months.
Manasseh, managing director and co-founder of the Stellar Group, which looks after the likes of Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw and Jordan Pickford, is now suspended until December 31st and has been fined £50,000 after he was found to have signed up a young footballer at a Premier League club while he was still a minor.
14:58

MILINKOVIC-SAVIC GETS NEW DEAL

Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has extended his contract with the club.
The Serbian has been heavily linked with Premier League clubs, including Manchester United.
Striker Ciro Immobile has also penned a new deal.
A statement says: “The SS Lazio announces that it has extended the economic contracts of the players Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic until 30 June 2023.”
14:55

‘WE NEEDED EXPERIENCE’

Former Carlisle boss Keith Curle’s experience was the key reason in Northampton’s decision to appoint him.
Northampton are fourth bottom in Sky Bet League Two after just one win and five losses from their first 10 games, including three defeats in their last four.
"In the position we are in we think we needed a manager with a lot of experience of League 2 and Keith has that," said Chairman Kelvin Thomas.
"He has managed around 400 games at this level and we think he is exactly who we need right now. He took over at Carlisle United in similar circumstances and did an excellent job, not only steering them out of trouble but developing a squad that was able to challenge for promotion in the following seasons.”
14:45

BREAKING NEWS

Northampton have appointed Keith Curle as manager.
14:38

‘I’LL NEVER MANAGE BARCA’

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is plotting Barcelona's downfall safe in the knowledge he will never manage the Spanish giants.
Pochettino is relishing the prospect of tackling Ernesto Valverde's side in Wednesday's Champions League group stage match at Wembley.
But he knows his past precludes him from ever taking charge at the Nou Camp, given he has been both a player and manager at rivals Espanyol.
He said: "It is more than understood [that I will never take over]. My path and that of Barcelona are different, opposite directions. Coaching there would be impossible."
14:17

WATCH: JOSE ON SACK TALK

Jose Mourinho's Manchester United future might be under heightened scrutiny but the man himself dismissed suggestions his job could be determined by this week's results against Valencia and Newcastle.
Here's what he had to say at his Champions League pre-match news conference...
13:54

FOOTBALL WHISPERS

Here are the latest rumours from our friends at Football Whispers...
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/fUdnX9nyngL34Aa2E_SpjA/https/d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/fgN7VqxRU2fOhahPyFZt_2018-10-01-14-19-25-sky-top-10-graphic.png
12:56

JEDINAK ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIA RETIREMENT

Australia international Mile Jedinak has announced his retirement from international football in order to focus on his club career.
The 34-year-old won 79 caps for his country and represented them in three World Cups, twice as captain.
Jedinak, who also led Australia to victory in the 2015 Asian Cup on home soil, scored 20 goals for the Socceroos.
12:49

BARCA CHIEF RESPONDS TO POGBA RUMOURS

Barcelona chief Josep Maria Bartomeu has refused to rule out a move for Paul Pogba.
Barcelona are currently unwilling to pay over £100m, but Manchester United value the player at double that.
Asked about a potential January bid, Bartomeu told the Times: "I read these rumours - not just Pogba but a lot of players. Most of the teams don't want to sell their players. They want to grow.
"When you hear from agents that a certain player is on the market - and I am not saying that about this player, but generally - I will sometimes call the CEO and say 'Is it true you want to sell this player?'. Usually they say 'No way, not for sale' and that's the end of it."
12:44

NORTHAMPTON MANAGER UPDATE

Sky Sports News understands Northampton wish to appoint a new manager as quickly as possible, with ex-Carlisle boss Keith Curle currently the bookies favourite.
Ex-Blackpool manager Gary Bowyer and Kevin Nolan, who was last in charge at Notts County, are also short in the odds after the Cobblers sacked Dean Austin on Sunday following a 4-0 thrashing at Mansfield on Saturday.
Northampton are fourth-bottom of the bottom tier after one win and five defeats from their first 10 games, including three defeats in their last four.
12:07

AKINFEEV RETIRES FROM RUSSIA DUTY

Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev is retiring from international football after leading the national side as captain to this year's World Cup quarter-finals on home soil.
The 32-year-old CSKA Moscow player's acrobatic penalty saves captivated home crowds and helped Russia to their best tournament finish since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"There is a beginning and an end to every story," Akinfeev was quoted as saying on CSKA's website. "My story with the national team has also reached its logical end."
11:36

ASHLEY: SHOW ME THE MONEY

On Saturday, Ashley watched Newcastle play at home for the first time in 16 months. He was abused by large sections of the crowd as Newcastle lost 2-0 to Leicester City.
Ashley has now watched two games in a row. His attendance at games is part of a strategy being driven by chief executive Lee Charnley to build bridges with fan, players and manager Rafael Benitez.
In another conciliatory move, Ashley is planning to take Benitez and his players to dinner this week. He wants to get everyone together to clear the air and address the problems at the club and demonstrate his support and commitment.
One source told us that until Kenyon makes an offer, it is a case of “a man with no money wanting to buy a football club”.
11:34

NEWCASTLE TAKEOVER UPDATE

Mike Ashley’s challenge to anyone who wants to buy Newcastle United is to show him the money.
The Newcastle owner and his representatives have never publicly named their price for the club, but it is understood it is unlikely to be sold for less than £300m.
It is also our understanding that aside from purchasing the club prospective buyers must also prove they have the funds to take the club forward.
Former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is trying to put together a deal to buy Newcastle.
With clubs such as Manchester United valued at more than £3bn, the onus is on any prospective buyer to make their best offer.
10:52

MARADONA: MESSI SHOULD RETIRE

Argentina legend Diego Maradona has told Lionel Messi that he should retire from international football once again.
Messi's future with his national side is uncertain with the Barcelona forward opting to take a break following a below-par World Cup campaign.
What would I tell Messi? To not come back any more. To retire,' the current coach of Mexican outfit Dorados told C larin on Sunday.
"The Under 15s lose and it is Messi's fault, the fixture list in Argentina puts Racing against Boca and Messi is to blame. He is always to blame.
"I would tell him: 'Don't go anymore, man'. Let's see if they can handle that. Let's see if they're really big men."
10:20

ZIDANE'S CALL TO JOSE

Jose Mourinho is worried about his Manchester United future, and a phone call from Zinedine Zidane has convinced him that club officials have sounded out the Frenchman as his replacement.
The Sun are reporting that the France and Real Madrid legend was concerned Mourinho would think he was plotting behind his back, so felt obliged to call him.
Zidane reportedly told Mourinho that his representatives were asked if he would be interested in the job.
10:01

NORTHAMPTON SEEKING NEW BOSS

Northampton Town parted company with Dean Austin on Sunday night, and chairman Kelvin Thomas has been speaking to the media this morning.
He says the club are looking for an experienced, ruthless manager with experience of League 2.
Andy Todd is taking training this morning and preparing the squad for Tuesday’s visit from Bury.
09:15

MONDAY'S PAPERS

Jose Mourinho is resigned to his fate at Manchester United - after getting a call from Zinedine Zidane, according to The Sun.
Meanwhile, The Daily Express claim Cristiano Ronaldo reportedly turned down Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain before moving to Juventus in the summer.
Read the full Paper Talk HERE.
08:55

PEP WARNS SANE NOT TO LOSE FOCUS

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has warned Leroy Sane not to lose his focus again or he'll be axed.
The £37 million Germany international has suffered since being named PFA Young Player of the Year in May.
Sane appears to have put his problems to one side since becoming a father, starring in City's last three games, but Guardiola has sent out a warning.
“He has played really well but our profession is so demanding.
All my players, I want them to be focused. Do every single day what you have to do.
“When they do that there is no problem at all. When they don’t do that, they know what happens.”
08:26

TERRY ATTENDS SPARTAK GAME

John Terry is reportedly close to replacing Jody Morris as youth team coach at Chelsea, but the former England captain was back in Russia on Sunday to attend Spartak Moscow's 1-0 home defeat to Rostov.
Terry was spotted posing for pictures with Spartak fans weeks after calling off his move to the Russian outfit.
The 37-year-old had a medical and was close to finalising personal terms on a tax-free deal, in the region of £3million a year, but he pulled the plug on a move.
https://twitter.com/fcsm_official/status/1046423444051697665
07:47

EVERTON PURSUE PEPE

Everton have joined Bayern Munich in their pursuit of Lille striker Nicolas Pepe.
The versatile forward has a growing list of admirers, having scored five foals in eight Ligue 1 games so far this season.
The Ivory Coast international has previously been linked with Barcelona, and the Daily Star are reporting that Everton are ready to step up their interest following a strong start to the campaign.
07:21

LIVERPOOL LEAD RAMSEY CHASE

Liverpool will lead the chase for Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey after having a summer enquiry for the Wales international knocked back.
The Daily Mirror are reporting that Jurgen Klopp has earmarked the midfielder as a potential target after he signalled his intention to leave the Emirates.
Ramsey was substituted in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Watford and was spotted at Le Golf National on Sunday for the culmination of the Ryder Cup.
06:38

SANCHEZ TO BE SOLD?

We start with news from Old Trafford, and reports this morning that Alexis Sanchez's Manchester United career might be coming to an end.
Jose Mourinho has lost faith in the Chilean forward and Sanchez was left out of the United matchday squad during the weekend's 3-1 defeat at West Ham.
The Daily Express are reporting that the 29-year-old will be allowed to leave the club in January, just 12 months after he was signed from Arsenal.
06:27

GOOD MORNING!

Hello and welcome along to another day of Transfer Centre LIVE! We'll be rounding up all the morning's transfer news in the Monday newspapers and keep you abreast of all the latest transfer developments throughout the day.
Join the discussion on Discord. I am a bot. Found any errors? Contact /Football Mods

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We begin Sunday’s review of the upcoming action by focusing on football. The Premier League game of the day sees Everton host Crystal Palace at Goodison Park (11:00) EST. Everton have been inconsistent this season but have shown glimpses of the quality that they possess. Palace, aside from a fantastic away performance at Fulham have been underwhelming this season. However, Palace’s two wins this campaign have come on the road. Will they be able to pick up a third road win this afternoon?
One of Italy’s most famous derbies, Inter Milan v AC Milan, takes place later today (14:30 EST) at the San Siro. Inter are in fine form having won their last six games in all competitions. AC Milan are not in such dizzying form but have proved difficult to beat this season, albeit drawing a lot of games. With it being a derby game, anything can happen, and both sides are capable of winning.
The LA Galaxy travel to Minnesota (17:00 EST) as the regular MLS season begins to draw to a close. This is a must win game for the LA Galaxy if they have any hope of forcing their way in to the play-offs. They currently sit four points outside of the play-offs with two games to play. On paper, with Minnesota already out of the play-off race this should be a routine win for the Galaxy. However, this is the final fixture that Minnesota will play at TFC Bank Stadium, with an upcoming ground move ahead of next season. Minnesota will be keen to send the vast majority of the 50,000 expected fans home with a win.
It’s an NFL Sunday and with the first game being played at Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom it means an early start. We begin (09:30 EST) with the Los Angeles Chargers facing the Tennessee Titans. The Chargers are on a three-game winning streak after their early season struggles, whilst the Titans have lost their last two games.
The New England Patriots travel to the Chicago Bears (13:00 EST). The Pats are in good form and are beginning to look threatening with three wins in a row. The Bears somehow posted a loss last week to the Miami Dolphins in overtime having been in a dominant position for much of the game. The clash between the Patriots and Bears looks like it could be another game that goes down to the wire.
The Los Angeles Rams travel to their West coast rivals the San Francisco 49ers later today (16:25 EST). The 49ers have won just once this season, whilst the Rams boast a 100% record. Even with home field advantage it looks like it could be a tough day for the 49ers. In the late game (20:20 EST) the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Arrowhead stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs lost their unbeaten record last week but still have a handy 5-1 record for the season. The Bengals also boast a winning record (4-2) and will be keen to add to the Chiefs woes.
It’s the last day of our enhanced offer on Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Championship and the Warriors are in action this evening travelling to face the Denver Nuggets (20:00 EST). The Warriors are already rolling this season having won their opening two games. However, the Nuggets have the same record, and in front of their boisterous home crowd will prove a tough challenge as we end another sporting week at everybet.io.
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Sunday 06/12/2015, 17:00, England Premier League, Round 15 Newcastle vs Liverpool Preview The season started on a disappointing note for Liverpool, but the team returns to its winning ways and is now by far the hot the squad in the English first division. While they still have a long way to go to climb to the top of the hierarchy, they are on track and could set another important milestone today. If they find the resources to defeat Newcastle on the road, they would make it five games in a row, but there has to do it without a couple of key players. Newcastle vs Liverpool Odds At Paddy Power Newcastle 4.70, Draw 3.40, Liverpool 1.70 Newcastle vs Liverpool Tips Liverpool played midweek against Southampton in the Capital One Cup and decided to use the best players, instead of resting them for the weekend match. The strategy paid off, because despite the home side scoring first in the opening minute of the match, they managed to win the game by a wide margin. Liverpool scored six unanswered goals to wrap up the quarterfinals and are now anxiously waiting for the semifinal, scheduled for late December. Against Newcastle, manager Klopp is going to use virtually the same players, with five being absent due to either injuries or suspension. The defensive is the one hit hardest, but given the high expectations that Liverpool has for this fixture, it will be Coutinho that will be direly missed. He is responsible for scoring most of the goals and even more important is the fact that he built the offensive schemes. Newcastle is no stranger into injuries and the team had to play with roughly half the squad on the bench for many rounds last season. Once again, they have nine players doubtful and they are scattered all over the pitch, so they need to exercise extra caution when defending against Liverpool. Unlike the visiting team, the hosts don't have high expectations and one point would be regarded as a success, therefore the starting formation will feature a single striker. Past performance is pretty refreshing, as they've lost few games against Liverpool and generally outplayed the visitors when they had home pitch advantage. Key Facts Liverpool won four games in a row, while Newcastle prevail once in the last five games. The home side has twice as many players injured, including three players from the backline. Newcastle vs Liverpool Prediction The main reason for why punters are reluctant to bet on this fixture is that bookmakers are overly cautious when it comes to pricing Liverpool. You won't enjoy spectacular odds when backing the favorites, but Paddy Power offers the best value at 1.70. Form is definitely with the visitors and given the fact that they scored 10 goals in less than 10 days it's worth taking a leap of faith with them. Bet: Liverpool @ 1.70 with Paddy Power
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Talking Points: Three of Europe’s Biggest Clubs All Lose in Same Weekend

It was an incredible weekend for European football, in which Arsenal, Real Madrid and PSG ALL lost.
So what has that done to their respective divisions, and what does it mean for punters?

1 – Premier League Title Race Down to Two Contenders?

It always looked likely that last weekend would be a crucial one in the Premier League title shake-up, and so it proved. Leicester City continued their fine form with a late show against Norwich; an 89th minute winner from Leonardo Ulloa sealing the deal there, while Spurs came from a goal down to beat Swansea 2-1.
While the fourth contender in the title race, Manchester City, weren’t in action as they were off winning the League Cup, it was left to Arsenal to keep themselves in the reckoning at City’s Manchester rivals United.
But it proved a test too far: United’s teenage sensation Marcus Rashford netting a brace for his die in a 3-2 win. That result leaves the Gunners three points behind Tottenham and five behind Leicester at the summit of the Premier League table, and their odds of winning it have lengthened to 3.75 accordingly.
They take on Spurs in a couple of weeks, while Leicester can sit back and watch with relish. Their odds of 3.00 loo great value, and so they in the Bet Advisor betting tips for today.

2 – Atletico Claim Spoils in Battle of Madrid

It was a fixture that would go a long way to determining how easy Barcelona’s run to successive La Liga titles would be, and yet the Catalan giants weren’t even involved.
Instead, the two Madrid clubs did battle in what is likely to be a contest to see who finishes second behind Luis Enrique’s side. And it was Atletico who came out on top courtesy of an Antoine Griezmann goal and yet another fantastic defensive performance.
Diego Simeone’s side are now eight points adrift of Barcelona but four clear of Real, and with that defensive record – they’ve conceded just 11 goals in 26 games – they look so hard to beat. It’s quite possible they will finish above their Madrid rivals, which would be a huge achievement.

3 – Slump? What Slump? Juventus Return to Winning Ways

It’s testament to their outstanding form that even a couple of dropped points away from home represents a slump, but some pundits were suggesting Juventus’ bubble had burst following a 0-0 draw with Bologna last time out.
Those predictions proved completely wrong as goals from Leonardo Bonucci and Alvaro Morata secured a 2-0 win over historic rivals Inter Milan. Juve are once again four points clear awaiting Napoli’s result against a tough Fiorentina outfit tonight, and so their outright price of 1.57 to claim the Serie A title remains, as it has done for weeks now, at the heart of today’s betting tips.

4 – Business As Usual For Bayern and Dortmund

Two games, two wins. While the quality of football on offer in the Bundesliga is often a joy to behold, unfortunately the predictability of the title race is slightly less appetising. Despite Dortmund’s fumblings last season, they and Bayern remain head and shoulders above the rest in Germany’s top flight.
Bayern went to Wolfsburg and returned with a 2-0 victory in their grasp despite once again being without three first choice centre backs, while Dortmund’s domination of Hoffenheim manifested itself in a 3-1 win.

5 – It’s Over: PSG Finally Beaten

It was a bit of a surprise to see PSG lose on Sunday – many thought they were heading for an ‘invincible’ campaign – but even more surprising, perhaps, was the identity of the victor. Lyon are packed with talent but frustratingly inconsistent; as defeats to 11th placed Bastia and 15th placed Lille in recent weeks confirm.
But with four wins in their last six, things seem to be looking up for the former Ligue 1 champions. They are in to 2.40 to finish in the top three once again, and that is the last of today’s football betting tips.

Talking Points: Leicester and Ajax on the Brink as Barcelona Stumble

It was a definitive weekend of action across Europe, with title races and relegation battles that fraction closer to being concluded.
Elsewhere, defeats suffered by the big dogs created more questions than answers however....

1: And Then There Were Two: Leicester and Tottenham Left to Battle for Premier League Title

It was a decisive weekend in the English Premier League for many reasons, but crucially it was victories for Leicester and Spurs that have ensured that their gap to the chasing pack is all but insurmountable.
Any win is welcomed at this point in the campaign, but particularly so when it maintains a comfortable points margin over your nearest rivals. No wonder Leicester’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace and Spurs’ 3-0 triumph over Bournemouth were met with such fervour by their supporters then: Arsenal are now a full eleven points behind in third.
There was further bad news for Man City, who rather than contesting the title race are now embroiled in a battle to save their Champion League status following defeat to their Manchester rivals United on Sunday. Manuel Pellegrini’s side are now just one point clear of the Red Devils and West Ham with seven matches left to play.
Richest club in the world, Pep Guardiola set to take over AND potentially playing in the Europa League next season? Football truly is a funny old game.
Incidentally, Leicester can still be backed at 1.75 to win the title, and with an agreeable run of fixtures that is still value enough to be added to today’s betting tips.

2: Real Madrid Enjoy Stellar Weekend As La Liga Rivals Stumble

Zinedine Zidane’s side were always expected to beat Sevilla on Sunday at the Bernabeu given the visitors’ poor away record, but the 4-0 victory sent a clear statement of intent to Barcelona and Atletico: we’ve not given up on the La Liga title yet.
Their cause was helped somewhat by the mixed bag of form displayed by their two closest rivals at the weekend. Barcelona could only record a 2-2 draw with a stubborn Villarreal side who look good value for their fourth place in the division; despite winning just one of their last six.
Atletico, meanwhile, suffered a surprise 1-2 defeat against a Sporting Gijon side that had lost their last four. Perhaps Diego Simeone’s side paid the price for their hard-fought Champions League win in midweek, but they look vulnerable to the advances of their Madrid neighbours, who are just one point behind now.

3: Juve and Napoli Regroup As Serie A Title Race Goes to the Wire

Despite the apparent ease with which they are cutting through Serie A at the moment, it’s actually been a pretty rough couple of weeks for the two sides at the top of the division. Departing the Champions League at such an early stage could have rocked Juventus, and while they got the toughest of draws and should take some heart from the fact that they pushed Bayern Munich so hard, it wouldn’t have been a huge surprise if their league form suffered as a result.
But no: they demolished Torino 4-1 on Sunday to record their fourth straight domestic win and maintain their three point advantage over Napoli.
After their shaky run of form after suffering defeat to Juve, the Naples outfit are back on the straight and narrow with three wins of their own – including Sunday’s 3-1 verdict against Genoa. Fired by the 29-goal Gonzalo Higuain, anything is possible for the Blues.

4: PSG Lose Again As They Confirm Their Position as the Punters’ Worst Nightmare

If you only take one of the Bet Advisor betting tips away with you today, make sure it is this one: steer clear of betting on PSG in Ligue 1 at the moment.
With the league title sewn up already, it’s clear to see that the Parisian outfit has collectively taken its foot off the gas in recent weeks, culminating in two defeats in the past three weeks and a run of just two wins in six.
This week’s conquerors were Monaco, who incredibly have lost just four matches all season. They look a smart investment at 1.20 in the ‘without PSG’ market.

5: Ajax Triumph in Battle of the Giants in Eredivisie

The season may be played over 34 matches, but it always felt like PSV vs Ajax was going to be the definitive one when deciding the location of the Eredivisie title.
Goals from El-Ghazi and Milik secured victory for Ajax, and they are now clear in top spot by two points after that hammer blow to their nearest rivals.
PSV are still in with a chance of course, but Ajax to win the Eredivisie is the best of today’s betting tips at 2.10.

Newcastle United 0 - 2 Tottenham Hotspur

🕗 Kickoff: 🥅 Venue: St James' Park
🗒 Referee: Andre Marriner
Attendance: 52,077
Pre-Match Thread
📺Television Coverage
Match Thread Archive
📻 Radio Commentary
XI: Elliot, Manquillo, Lejeune (🔄Chancel Mbemba 34'), Clark, Dummett (🔄Jamaal Lascelles 7'), Shelvey (🔴 48'), Hayden, Ritchie (💛 52'), Pérez, Atsu, Gayle (🔄Mikel Merino 76')
Subs: Lascelles, Ja Murphy, Aarons, Mbemba, Merino, Darlow, Mitrovic
XI: Lloris, Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies (💛 86'), Dier, Dembélé (🔄Harry Winks 90'), Sissoko (🔄Son Heung-min 58'), Alli (🔄Victor Wanyama 82'), Eriksen, Kane (💛 31')
Subs: Son Heung-min, Janssen, Wanyama, Vorm, Wimmer, Winks, Carter-Vickers
⚽ Shelvey (Dismissed at 48')
⚽ Alli (61'), Davies (70')

Newcastle United	v	Tottenham Hotspur
27%	Possession	73%
6	Shots	18
2	Shots on Target	6
5	Corners	7
6	Fouls	10

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MATCH UPDATES (COURTESY OF BBC)

13:23: Newcastle v Tottenham (13:30 BST)BBC Radio 5 liveNewcastle manager Rafael Benitez: "When Newcastle went down last time, they had some good players but they did not have a team. I think this season, they do have a team."I think that the fans were so pleased to see the team going back to the Premier League. They were amazing last year supporting the team and they will be the same this year. We have a massive city behind the club."It will be a tough test against Tottenham, you are talking about one of the best teams in the division."We have an idea how to attack and how to defend, but football is football."
13:26: Tottenham v Newcastle (13:30 BST)First observation of the day as the players stand in the tunnel.Tottenham's away kit is slick, really slick.Not as slick as Toby Alderweireld's over-gelled hair though.
13:27: Newcastle v Tottenham (13:30 BST)Last word before kick-off, as ever, goes to our MOTD man...
13:28: Newcastle v Tottenham (13:30 BST)Guy MowbrayMatch of the Day commentator"Did Newcastle really go down for a year or did we dream it? I only ask because it seems not much has changed as they kick off their Premier League return with the same fixture they left it with."As seems usual, there's frustration on Tyneside over transfer business, with Rafa Benitez' statement that he'll 'try to be sure to get the players we need' sounding vaguely threatening."In comparison to Spurs though, The Magpies have been positively splashing the cash, with last season's runners-up looking very light on numbers with ZERO new faces so far."Be that as it may, the starting XI is still more than good enough to kick off with a win here."
1 min: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamPre-match shenanigans sorted.We are under way.St James's Park looks stunning.
13:30: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportSt James's Park rarely looks better than this. They have packed the stadium to the rafters. Newcastle United have not won a major trophy in over 48 years.
13:32: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageJack: I'm predicting 4-1 Spurs. All this talk of them not strengthening, why fix what isn't broken? A great season last year, one of the best team spirits in the top flight, top scorer. I know they didn't perform at Wembley but I'm sensing a title win this year...Jaidev: Would be a hilarious bungle for Manchester City if new Spurs boy Kyle Walker-Peters ends up performing better than Kyle Walker.Jay: There's only one certainty if Harry Kane stays fit all season - he'll be playing for Real Madrid next season.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
3 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamThe hosts have made a good start at home, fizzing the ball into each other's feet with conviction.They will want speedy winger Christian Atsu to get at Kyle Walker-Peters early to test the youngster.Haha, very good by Lewis Wilson on Twitter.He tells us Kyle Walker didn't leave Tottenham in the summer, he just got married.
13:34: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorIt is not the time to start treading water and start standing still. I think Tottenham fans have every right to feel disillusioned. Now is the time for Tottenham to throw money at this squad to make sure they can compete in the Premier League and the Champions League, because there is no point moving into the new stadium not having Champions League football.
5 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamHow can you tell if Moussa Sissoko is on the ball for Spurs?Listen out for the loud 'booooos' ringing around St James's Park.Meanwhile, the first shot at goal.The ball drops nicely for Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle inside the area, but his shot on the bounce is blazed over the bar.
13:35: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorTottenham have got to deal with this tempo. It could backfire on Newcastle if they do not get any early goal.
6 mins: 🤕 Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamOh no, not good this.An early hamstring injury for Newcastle full-back Paul Dummett, who tried catching Moussa Sissoko on the break.
7 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamJamaal Lascelles replaces Paul Dummett with just seven minutes gone.Newcastle have a corner to defend...
8 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamSpurs try to play a short corner and work the ball into the box, but make a mess of it and Newcastle can wallop the ball up field.Get it into the mixer.
9 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamAn important block by Jamaal Lascelles after coming on.Spurs are growing into the game and midfielder Mousa Dembele - one s - strikes a low drive from the edge of the box which Lascelles does well to stop.That was arrowing towards the bottom corner.
13:41: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorMoussa Dembele has got everything hasn't he? He is clever, strong and got a good range of pass. I am a big fan of him.
13:41: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageChinedu:The PL has missed St. James Park.MikeyBlighe: Everyone's talking like this match is a done deal. Never write the Magpies off! First match of the season, all bets are off!Pranav Madabhushi‏: Spurs won't do well this season in England and in CL. Only Alderweireld and Kane make it into the top six's teams.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
13 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamSpurs beginning to get a stranglehold in the match.These players know each other so well.Barcelona-linked Christian Eriksen picks out Dele Alli in the area with a lofted ball, the Englishman attempts to volley it across the box towards Harry Kane, but a Newcastle man intercepts it.
14 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamAnother short corner from Tottenham, this time Christian Eriksen's cross is straight into the bread-basket for Rob Elliot.
16 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamShouts for a penalty ring around St James's Park as Kyle Walker-Peters trips Dwight Gayle in the area.The referee has blown his whistle, has he given it??It is clumsy and it would have been given...had the linesman's flag not gone up.Heart in mouth moment for the Spurs right-back.
18 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamDecent contest so far, but neither goalkeeper has had a save to make yet.
13:48: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportIt is all fire and brimstone from Newcastle but Tottenham are now settling into the game. Tottenham do play a high game. Newcastle are going to have to sit back, be organised, be drilled and play counter-attack football in a lot of games.Dwight Gayle looks very lively but they are giving the ball away so cheaply.
21 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamSpurs hogging the ball like a bully in the playground."Come get it off us," they are saying to Newcastle.Plenty of pretty play, but with the Magpies sat back, they are not really going anywhere.
22 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamAh, now Spurs get a free-kick on the right.It is swung in with purpose by Christian Eriksen, screaming to be attacked.Visiting front man Harry Kane is the first one on it, but his weak header is easy for Rob Elliot.
13:52: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportWe have not seen a lot of Dele Alli or Harry Kane, the rest of the team have had a lot of the ball but they just cannot get the two main men involved.Substitutes are going to be key for Newcastle. They have already used one. It is a very hot day which is unusual.Tottenham are dominating the ball but Newcastle are putting in a massive shift so far.
24 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamIf there is one thing that lets Dele Alli down, it is his temper.The Spurs midfielder goes flying in on Jamaal Lascelles and the Newcastle man does not like it.The challenge was flood blooded but it was not nasty, yet the defender jumps up off the floor and into the face of his opponent.Alli, not one to back down, creeps in to go nose-to-nose and the referee Andre Mariner has to step in to separate the pair.It is getting nasty.
25 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNewcastle go from one end of the pitch to another in a flash, courtesy of Rob Elliot's long throw out and they get a corner from Christian Atsu's run.Not the best set piece though, straight into the safe hands of Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
26 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNow Spurs break to the other end...It is playmaker Christian Eriksen who finds space on the edge of the box, but screws his shot wide of Rob Elliot's left-hand post.The contest is building up nicely.
13:57: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageJNO: People say Spurs don't have top 6 players. Lloris,Toby, Dier, Eriksen, Alli & Kane, that's half a team for you.Chris Mapp: I think several of the top 6 would like to get their hands on Lloris, Alli & Erickson... Dembele and Vertonghen would also easily make it into a couple of them.Nick Clohessy: Why are Newcastle fans booing Sissoko? He was awful for them and he's awful for Spurs too. Plus they somehow got £30m for him! Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
29 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChristian Atsu is the go-to man for Newcastle and they should make as much use of him as possible.The winger outpaces Kyle Walker-Peters and it looks like he has lost control of the ball, but he manages to feed a low cross in, though Dwight Gayle is caught on his heels and cannot capitalise.
13:59: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportTottenham are so dominant in this game, they probably expected more from Newcastle.The first 10 minutes Newcastle came out of the blocks but now they are all back in their own end defending.Newcastle are going really on quick counter-attacks.I think Rafa Benitez has got them fired up but they are not looking after their football and that will be disappointing for him. When they have possession, they cannot keep it.
30 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNewcastle earn a succession of corners but cannot capitalise. They have been camped in the final third for the last couple of minutes, though are unable to fashion a goalscoring opportunity.
14:01: Newcastle United 0-0 Tottenham HotspurChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportI have got to say Dwight Gayle's movement is just non existent, he has just jogged in. If Gayle runs with him and commits himself to the pass then that is a tap-in.If he doesn't get there he cannot do any more.
31 mins: Newcastle 0-0 Tottenham"Not that type of player".Harry Kane, who has had the fewest touches (7) of any Spurs player, goes flying in on the back of Florian Lejeune.It is right in the front of the dugout and Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez jumps out of his seat.A nasty scissors challenge and a yellow card rightfully issued for the Spurs striker.
14:03: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportHarry Kane is on a yellow now and he has to be careful. We saw yesterday how much it can change the game.
33 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamThe summer signing from Spanish side Florian Lejeune is limping heavily to the side of the pitch.I don't think he can come back on...
33 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNewcastle continue with 10 and waste another set-piece. Poor.
34 mins: 🤕 Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamJust over half an hour gone and already Rafael Benitez has had to make two changes because of injury.Chancel Mbemba replaces the stricken Florian Lejeune. Not a happy debut for the Frenchman.
14:05: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageKen: Sissoko was awful for 3 years at Newcastle. That's why we boo him. And it's always nice to have a pantomime villain.Sho Rhaman: Kane lucky not to get sent off for that.Craig Smith: Got to admire Spurs' tactics, using a speedy goalkeeper and defender to play a high line and push the game into oppositions half.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
36 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNewcastle owner Mike Ashley, arms folded, watches his team from the stands.He told Sky Sports this week he does not have the kind of money being splashed out to compete with other Premier League clubs.How has that gone down on Tyneside?
14:09: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportKyle Walker-Peters is playing in a terrific team and they will help him. When he make runs, he knows that the players in Tottenham shirts will get on it.Newcastle's defending has been excellent, they are really working their socks off. Once Tottenham get into the final third, Newcastle are closing people down and Tottenham cannot get the ball through.I think Newcastle have got to be a bit braver though and draw the Tottenham team out.
39 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamA header from Harry Kane just now comfortably cleared by Newcastle. He was a bit far out to ever truly worry the goalkeeper and the striker has generally had little involvement. Just nine touches so far, the fewest of any Spurs outfield player.
40 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamFive minutes to half times.Lots of courage and conviction, few creativity or chances.
41 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamAh, right on cue.Dele Alli takes matters into his own hands and curls a 30-yard effort goalwards, but it is straight at Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot.Needed a bit more loft and pace to cause Elliot any problems.
14:12: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportEverything is going long. If you pass a 10 or 20-yard ball it is very easy to control, but when you are kicking 60 yards it is different. Tottenham have picked every ball up from the start of the game. At the minute, Newcastle are just running.Tottenham are trying to walk it in so far. Christian Eriksen decided to shoot and I think they have got to do a lot more of that.
14:13: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageBlitxguy: I don't think Tottenham can make it to the Top four this season. Paul French: Do Spurs have a Kyle Walker factory?Michael Reid: Just look at the Spurs bench. I don't get why they haven't bought a single player this window. Madness.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
44 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamTottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is conversation with his assistants in the dugout.Not much to shout about from his side so far in this game.Another long range effort, this time by Christian Eriksen, another which dribbles into the hands of Rob Elliot.
45 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamFOUR minutes of added time in the first half because of the stoppages.
45+1 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamCan Spurs break the deadlock before half time?They have a free-kick, around 30 yards out, dead centre...
45+2 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChristian Eriksen shapes to shoot, but lifts his free-kick into the area.It is poor though, failing to clear the first man.Newcastle break clear, but Christian Atsu's cross into the box is caught by Hugo Lloris.
14:18: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNot much to get excited about in that half. Goalless at the interval.
14:22: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportIt is what we expected coming here, Tottenham dominating the game, but they need to use Harry Kane and Dele Alli more if they are going to win this game.Newcastle do carry a threat on the break and they are working very, very hard.
14:25: A few bits for you to cast your eye over at the break...
14:25: We are down to the final five.Yeboah, Bergkamp, Henry, Rooney or Wilshere. Who scored the Premier League's best goal of the last 25 years?Today is the last day to watch the video and cast your vote. The winner will be revealed on Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening.Head here to take part
14:29: #GetInspiredMud-caked boots in bag under stairs ✔14 players on Friday night, seven by Sunday morning ✔The beautiful game ✔✔✔Celebrate the return of the football (as even August obliges us by behaving like autumn) and get involved yourself. Find out how with our Get Inspired guide...
14:31: ...last year, Gary Lineker presented Match of the Day in his pants after promising to do so if Leicester won the Premier League title.
14:32: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pagePaul Salmon:Is Eriksen trying to do it all himself to impress Barcelona?Chibuzor Franklin:Tottenham are butterflies that think themselves birds. Regardless of today's results, they are winning zilch this season.Jay‏: Teams involved in a goalless draw should be docked half a point each.That would liven things up, Jay.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
14:34: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamThe Newcastle players are back out on the pitch and striker Dwight Gayle is having a chat with ref Andre Mariner. Not sure what they are talking about.
46 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamSpurs are out and get the game back under way.
14:35: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageKyle:Tottenham's build up play has been to slow and they look very lethargic. Eriksen has been their biggest threat.James Appleton: This is more like what I expected from the opening weekend. None of these 7-goal thrillers. Thanks guys.Tony Greaves: So the Premier League is always fantastic is it? This game says otherwise.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
47 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamSeems like Spurs have been have given a stern half-time talking to by boss Mauricio Pochettino.They are out of the traps quicker, but Ben Davies' dangerous cross into the box is punted clear.
48 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamWhat?It is Jonjo Shelvey who has been dismissed.
14:39: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportI do not know whether Dele Alli has made a big deal about that or not. This is the downside to Jonjo Shelvey, because at times he lets himself down. He is the captain today as well as he has let his team down.
51 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamNewcastle break clear and get a chance through Dwight Gayle, but the shot is blocked by Rob Elliot.At the other end, Harry Kane has his best chance of the match, but from close range is straight at Rob Elliot.This game has finally come to life.
14:42: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageMozil: What a stupid sending off.Richard: Jonjo Shelvey with his application for world's most stupid footballer.Matthew Harmonyx: What an absolute idiot Shelvey. Knows exactly what he's doing, and that will cost us the game. Stupid.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
14:42: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorWe saw how red cards had a huge impact on games yesterday in the Premier League. Newcastle United only a minute into the second half. Jonjo Shelvey is a very silly boy. He has stood on Dele Alli.
56 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamYou can expect Tottenham to have much of the ball now.They have already carved Newcastle open at the back, but not yet found the back of the net.
58 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamTottenham's first change of the game. Disappointment for the Newcastle fans, as boo-boy Moussa Sissoko comes off.Sissoko gives a sarcastic clap to his old fans as he takes his place on the bench.Son Heung-min, with a cast on his right arm, enters the action.
14:48: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageDavid Thackeray: I've often had doubts about some footballers' intelligence but Shelvey has confirmed the lowest mark.Daniel Woods: And Benitez gave him the captaincy? It never rains but it pours at Newcastle.Anükram Adhikary‏: What a disgrace Shelvey is! An Arsenal supporter here. I hope he is banned for more than 3 games.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
14:48: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorIt really is a lovely afternoon at Newcastle - unless your name is Jonjo Shelvey, of course.You can listen to commentary from Conor and Chris Waddle on 5 live right now.
60 mins: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamIt is not as though Tottenham have laid siege on the Newcastle goal since Jonjo Shelvey's sending off.The away side are happy to pop the ball to each other in front of the defence.
14:50: Newcastle 0-0 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportHarry Kane and Dele Alli are very quiet, the pair of them. These players have got to come forward and create a bit of magic. Somebody do something on the ball.
14:50: Dele AlliAnd there is the opener.
14:52: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportI feel for Newcastle, they have defended so well, they have got ten men and they are up against it. What can they do? You can see they are feeling the pace now.
14:52: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorAlli who has not been firing from all cylinders today, puts Tottenham ahead.That is a very important goal for Spurs and it will take the shackles off.
63 mins: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamOn Tottenham's next attack, they could have had a second.Harry Kane finds space on the left-edge of the box and fires a low shot across the face of goal, which Rob Elliot has to get sharply down to save.Newcastle are reeling.
64 mins: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamThe architect. You can see why Barcelona are interested in him. The perfect man to replace Andres Iniesta?Christian Eriksen has more assists than any other Premier League player since the start of the 2015-16 season (29).
66 mins: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamNewcastle are being pushed so far back, they are almost sat in the first row of the stands.Spurs earn a corner which is swung in my Christian Eriksen, but the home defence are able to clear...for now.
14:56: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageKyle: Gorgeous goal from Dele Ali and a superb cross from Eriksen. They deserve it I just hope we don't get hammered now.Rachel T: Kane to Eriksen to Alli. Who needs new players?Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
14:56: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorNow here is a stat for you.Whenever Dele Alli has scored for Tottenham in the Premier League, Tottenham have never lost a game.
69 mins: Newcastle 0-1 TottenhamCan Newcastle get anything out of the game?Down to 10 men and a goal behind.Isaac Hayden tries to foray forward and pull a ball back into the box, but runs out of room and it goes out of play for a goal kick.
70 mins: Ben DaviesPoints heading to London.
15:01: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorTottenham pretty much walked their way into the penalty area there. Newcastle are in big, big trouble.Tottenham are stretching their leg towards the three points. Let's see if the visitors add to their lead.
75 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamThe floodgates are opening opposite the Gallowgate end.Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez is slumped in his chair, not much he can do apart from watch on as his side crumble in front of his eyes.Damage limitation and they have 15 minutes remaining to hold out.
15:03: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorYou can see the body language of all the players being so evident. They have been in Tottenham's faces but Spurs have been efficient and professional by the way they have gone about their business today.
15:04: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageJamie: This Newcastle side could well come to be seen as one of the worst in Premier League history. Can't attack, can't defend, zero ambition, no grit and determination. Disgraceful.Adam: Shelvey's idiocy is probably going to cost Huddersfield the chance to be top of the league for the whole week as well here.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
15:04: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamAndy Perry: I just Googled 'Tottenham's best left back' and Ben Davies was first hit.
76 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamFinal change of the game for Newcastle.Off comes Dwight Gayle for a breather, on comes Mikel Merino, signed on loan from Borussia Dortmund.
15:05: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportKyle Walker-Peters looks like he has been playing there for a long, long time. He has played very, very well.
77 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamEric Dier wants some of the spotlight.The England international attempts a curling shot from 25 yards out, but it narrowly deflects away for a corner. That could easily have looped in.The resulting set piece is straight into Rob Elliot's grasp.
15:07: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageDavid Williams:Great stuff from Spurs. Imagine a super fit Barkley In that team. Pleased for Davies, good lad.Andrew Duffy:Spurs coming away from this with a clean sheet means a) top of the league and b) not facing question marks over their defence.Phil: It's David versus Goliath now... but David has had his arm cut off. Silly Shelvey.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
80 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamNewcastle's best effort of the game. Christian Atsu weaves in and out, but his low drive is comfortable for Hugo Lloris to throw his cap on.10 to go.
15:10: Man Utd v West Ham (16:00 BST)It is no surprise to see Romelu Lukaku and Nemanja Matic making their Premier League debuts for Manchester United.New West Ham striker Javier Hernandez is back on familiar ground as he makes his return to English football, starting up front against his former employers.Man Utd XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Jones, Blind, Matic, Pogba, Mata, Rashford, Mkhitaryan, Lukaku.West Ham XI: Hart, Zabaleta, Reid, Ogbonna, Masuaku, Fernandes, Obiang, Noble, Ayew, Arnautovic, Hernandez.Follow that live here
82 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamDele Alli is roundly booed as he makes his way off the pitch.He makes his way, rather slowly, to the touchline.On comes the big Kenyan, Victor Wanyama.
15:11: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportTottenham have come off the pace and it has become sloppy. They need to get the job done properly.
83 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamShould have found the back of the net.Javier Manquillo flicks on a cross to the back post for Christian Atsu, but the Ghanaian can only hit the side-netting from a couple of yards out.
85 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamHad that Christian Atsu strike gone in, it would have been a nervy final five minutes for Tottenham, but Mauricio Pochettino's side look like closing out this game with few problems.
15:14: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorNewcastle are finishing this game with 10 men, stronger than they did when they started with 11. The clock is very much counting down in Tottenham's favour now. Jonjo Shelvey was sent off at an unfortunate time. Suspension will come as well, for sure.
86 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamGoalscorer Ben Davies goes into the referee's book for a late challenge.Can Newcastle grab a consolation?
87 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamMatt Ritchie swings in the free-kick......it falls to Ciaran Clark inside the box, but the defender's right-footed swinger is caught by Hugo Lloris on the goal line.Either side of the Frenchman and it was rippling the onion bag.
15:16: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorIt kind of feels like Tottenham know their work is done and they have pulled down the shutters.
88 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamKeep ball for Spurs now, easily seeing out the game.Who needs signings when they can put in a performance like this?Albeit against 10 man Newcastle, who have offered very little.
89 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamMousa Dembele's work is done, off he comes for Harry Winks.Is the Spurs sub the only player in the Premier League named after an emoji?
15:19: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportJavier Manquillo has been steady and had a bit of pace. He has got a good engine and I am sure he will get better.Florian Lejeune looked comfortable on the ball but we did not see enough of him.Kyle Walker-Peters looks comfortable and looks like he fits in very well with the team.
90 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamTHREE minutes of additional play for Newcastle to endure.Call it already, ref.
90+1 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamTottenham have the chance to go joint top of the Premier League...but Harry Kane's low strike from inside the area from Son Heung-min's pass cannons off the foot of the post.Kane stuck on 99 Spurs goals.
90+2 mins: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamTon up.No.Harry Kane's goal from close range is ruled out for offside.He is going to have to wait until next week to bring u three figures for Tottenham.
15:21: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamConor McNamaraBBC Radio 5 live commentatorHarry Kane has only ever scored twice in August, but once he gets his steam there are few that have been less prolific.
15:22: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamNo problems for Tottenham, who collect all three points.Newcastle, though, have problems to deal with.
15:26: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamChris WaddleEx-Spurs and England winger on 5 live SportThere are just no easy games and Newcastle are going to find this. It is so difficult to compete at this level. I think they were up against it from early on Newcastle. Tottenham have dominated this football match. Newcastle's work rate you cannot fault, but it is going to be a long season.
15:28: #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook pageMark Ryan: People too harsh on Newcastle. Spurs are a top team. Plenty more to play for against teams not of this calibre.Ruz: Yes disgraceful from Alli to make Shelvey stand on his ankle and not get it out of the way fast enough. Very unsporting of him.James O'Hara: Only question, does Benitez even make it to Xmas before he walks? He's got to be fuming right now.Get involved on Twitter using #bbcfootball, text in on 81111 (UK only) or leave a comment on the Match of the Day Facebook page.Remember to leave names on texts.
15:31: Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Tottenham HotspurTottenham goalscorer Dele Alli on Jonjo Shelvey’s red card for standing on him, to Sky Sports: “We knew it was going to be a physical game. It's not an easy place to come. It happens sometimes. "I'm sure he'll be disappointed. it was important we stayed professional. I don't want to talk about it too much. I've had a few talks with the gaffer in the past [about his temperament]. I've been pulled up for my temper before but today we had to keep our cool. There was no need to react today.”
15:36: Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Tottenham HotspurTottenham defender Kyle Walker-Peters told Sky Sports he learned yesterday that he would be making his Premier League debut."I found out yesterday in training before we worked on tactics and shape work. I was a bit nervy, nerves are good though. A few of the boys tried to tease me about it. "Playing here, it's a fantastic stadium. Most importantly we got the three points."
15:41: Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Newcastle UnitedNewcastle midfielder Christian Atsu tells Sky Sports that Jonjo Shelvey has apologised to his team-mates for his red card: "It became more difficult when the red card came. "That’s football. Mistakes do happen. He’ll learn from his mistakes. He’s upset with himself. He thinks he let the team down. We are really behind him. We believe he will come back stronger. He apologised to everyone."
15:44: Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Newcastle UnitedNewcastle boss Rafael Benitez has just given a pretty terse interview to Sky Sports when asked about whether he would have a meeting with owner Mike Ashley about signing players."I don't know." When he was asked if it was up to Ashley whether they met, he said "yes". and then he added: "I am concentrating on my job and my players."Benitez agreed that Jonjo Shelvey deserved his red card: "The sending off changed everything. He made a mistake. Hopefully he will learn from it. He has apologised but that changes nothing now."
15:49: Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Tottenham HotspurSpurs boss Mauricio Pochettino to BBC Sport: "We knew how they play, so narrow and deep. It was difficult to move the ball quickly. We had control and we were helped by the red card but I think we deserved to win the game. "It was not easy to find the space and create chances. It’s important to improve. In a stadium that doesn’t have good memories for us, it was important to win. It was a clear red card."If Harry Kane had scored to make it 3-0 at the end, that would have been a bit more fair."
15:50: Newcastle 0-2 TottenhamMore from Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino...He explains that previous comments he made that right-back Kyle Walker-Peters wasn't ready to play were a language issue.He clarified that he meant it would be too much pressure to expect the 20-year-old to play the whole season.He told BBC Sport: "For a young player, don't put pressure on him. He showed in the USA that he was ready to play. It’s important to keep his feet on the grass, it’s only one Premier League game."
15:56: 🤕 Newcastle 0-2 Tottenham Newcastle UnitedNewcastle boss Rafael Benitez to BBC Sport: "It was difficult from the beginning. We had to adapt things [after injuries]. The red card changed everything. I think we were defending well. We have to improve. We had our chances but we missed them."He thought Harry Kane's foul on Florian Lejeune, which resulted in a yellow card and an injury, was worse than Jonjo Shelvey's stamp on Dele Alli, for which he was sent off. "The Harry Kane tackle was worse than this one. It’s more dangerous. We lost one player from that. We made a mistake, but I think maybe someone has to analyse these things to see what’s more dangerous."
15:59: Signings? Over-rated.Tottenham get their Premier League campaign off to a winning start with victory over 10-man Newcastle.Have a read of Gary Rose's match reportStill one game left in this round of fixtures..Head here for Manchester United v West Ham

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