24/25 Match Week 19 Recap

United, Roses & The Sheet-ies

Author

nick lochner
December 31, 2024

HALFWAY POINT - 19 In, 19 to Play

It’s Award’s Season - at least for the CS as we look at who’s had the best first half of the season in the PL. This year the awards are given in the Hot Topic Section, however if funding gets approved, we will post a video for next year and look to do better than these two best of all time hosts.

If you haven’t seen these - might be worth a watch when you have time - funny how they are relevant today.

Norm McDonald hosting the ESPY’s (1998)

Youtube (8 min)

Norm

Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globe’s (2000)

Youtube (10 min)

In Today’s CleanSheet:

  • Headlines 📌

  • Current Situation📈📉

  • Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Sheet-ies

  • Off Island 🏝️ - Happy New Year

  • Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

  • CS Match of the Week. Ipswich Town 2-0 Chelsea. First PL WIN for the Tractor Boys at Portman Road since 2002, shut out high flying Chelsea and gives fans hope for a 2H run out of relegation. Maresca came out last week and said his Chelsea side were not title contenders even though they sat second in the table. This match seemed to show why he said it.

  • Fourteenth. Man United 0-2 Newcastle. With the loss at Old Trafford Man United now sit lower in the table at the halfway point of the season they have ever been, 14th. The lowest they had ever been previously, 8th. Next on the schedule, league leader Liverpool.

  • December. Man United are the first team to LOSE 5 matches in December in back-to-back seasons, and this December it is now 6 losses.

  • Look at this Pass. Wow, why these guys are the best in the world.

  • 5 Goal Scorers. West Ham 0-5 Liverpool. The balance and ability to attack from all parts of the pitch are what really set the Red’s apart. Clubs try to mark Salah and take him away, they just go to other studs. Goals for Diaz, Gakpo, Salah, Alexander-Arnold, Jota.

There is Time

  • Europe AND Relegation. If you’re thinking the table has shaken out, you may want to pause on that thought and realize the Transfer Window opens in a couple days and teams will be making additions. Last season Palace rattled off 19 points in their final 7 matches to close out the season. Two years ago, Leicester City was sitting well above relegation until they got just 10 points in their final 16 matches and were relegated on the last day when Everton won to beat them out of the final spot.

    • There are 8 teams within 9 points of Europe spots (currently not in a Europe spot)

    • There are 7 teams within 9 points of Relegation (currently not in a Relegation spot)

    • Spurs, Brentford, West Ham and Man United sit in both of those lists.

Current Situation 📈📉

NOTE: Green Up Arrow means a club jumped UP 2 positions in the table or moved into a European spot. Red Down Arrow means a club moved DOWN 2 positions or more in the table for fell out of a European spot.

CleanSheets Counter & Goal Tracker

MW19 Clean Sheets

5

  • City, Liverpool, Forest, Newcastle, Ipswich with a Clean Sheet.

  • Forest and Liverpool each with 8 Clean Sheets on the season

  • Everton have been shut out 10 times.

MW19 Total Goals

28

  • Tenth game will be added when played.

  • This number could go up when we add the postponed match.

  • Just one team had 1 goal, Southampton, 17 teams had either 2+ goals or 0.

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

And The Sheet-ie Goes To…..

PHY - Player of the Half Year

Mo Salah (In 18 matches as Liverpool have a game in hand)

Salah has broken the PL record for most games with a goal and an assist - and it’s just the halfway point - eight.

17 goals (Haaland 14), 13 assists (Saka 10) - leads each category by 3.

There were signs of this “next level” Salah last season, but he was never the same after his injury at the African Cup of Nations.

Runner Up: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

The Egyptian king

GKHY - Goalkeeper of the Half Year

Jordan Pickford (Everton)

7 Clean Sheets is good for second best in the PL, one behind Sels (Forest), with a match in hand but what puts Pickford at the top are the big time saves he’s had this season, many to secure points.

Runner Up: Matz Sels (Forest)

Big Saves from Pickford

USHY - USMNT Player of the Half Year

Antonee Robinson (Fulham)

Has taken his game to another level, started all 19 matches. Leads the PL in assists for a defender. While there are slim pickn’s to choose from, Robinson is having a “First Team Top Eleven” kind of season.

Runner Up: Chris Richards (Palace)

Prepping for 2026

GHY - Gaffer of the Half Year

Nuno Espirito Santo (Forest)

Unbelievable job of taking a bunch of transfers and returning players and creating a clear identity for the club. The players have a very clear understanding of their roles in the club and are getting more out of their players than the individual quality would suggest.

A reminder - Nuno took Wolves into Europe but then was let go the following season in 2021. He then went to Spurs and was sacked 5 months into his tenure. Off to Saudi Arabia, where he led his clubs to a title but was then sacked 6 months later. He took over a Forest club that finished 17th last season.

Runner Up: Arne Slott (Liverpool)

Nuno

THY - Team of the Half Year

Forest

Projected by some to be relegated this year the Tree’s sit second in the PL (pending Arsenal match) and look the part. Also, the only side to beat Liverpool.

To describe how they are doing it let’s put it into NFL terms…..The NFL became a passing league where 90% of the teams focus on spread offense, receivers and QBs that can sling it. Then the Philadelphia Eagles started playing “old school” football, focusing on defense and running the ball. They have a 2000-yard rusher this year, a QB that runs it better than throws it, and the “tush push”.

That’s Forest - They play “old school” soccer, with a tight defense, wings that push the ball and cross it to a big man in the middle (Wood). This is counter to the trend Pep and City brought to the league of “playing out of the back”.

Runner Up: Liverpool

The highest Forest have been in the table since 1994.

Off Island 🏝️

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Day in the USA has traditionally been a GREAT college football watching day. With the new playoff format, it seems to have lost some of its luster. BUT, there is nothing like the Rose Bowl - sitting in the setting sun, with the backdrop of purple hued San Gabriel Mountains and perfectly painted grass.

The Rose Bowl game will be played on 1/1 at 4p cst this year, and will by chance have teams from the original Big Ten and Pac Ten conference, it just doesn’t feel the same.

Here are Clean Sheet’s Predictions

Best Bets 💰

Tough run for CS - 2 “big” bets this season is a clear example of why you don’t break your basic betting rules - “don’t lay BIG ODDS when betting the PL”. Arsenal not beating Everton - $296 loss, Liverpool not bearing Forest - $190. That’s close to $500 in losses when typically betting $20 per match.

So, with that - we are starting fresh to kick off the second half of the season and hope to see the results from last year.

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