24/25 Match Week 26 Recap & 27 Reminder

Appreciate the patience with a slimmed down CS schedule the last two weeks. Been a busy travel schedule - Miami Beach, Phoenix & the UK in 4 weeks - BUT have got some great content for the CS and will be getting back to the Tuesday, Friday schedule you had become accustomed to.

Check out the Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥Section over the next couple newsletters for insight and ideas if you happen to be heading to England and want to catch a Match.

Quick summary of the trip to England…

• Day 1 Manchester to Liverpool to Burnley - The Beatles, Bramley-Moore Dock (New Everton), Anfield (Liverpool), Goodison (Old Everton).

• Day 2 Burnley - Countryside, Turf Moore for Burnley 4-0 Sheffield United (Championship)

• Day 3 - Burnley to Birmingham - Molineaux (Wolves), Villa Park for Aston Villa 2-1 Chelsea

• Day 4 - Birmingham to Manchester - St Andrew Stadium (Birmingham FC), Old Trafford (Man United), Etihad for Man City 1-2 Liverpool.

In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• Current Situation📈📉

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Tips & Observations

• Off Island 🏝️ - European Leagues

• Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

• Magic Number. 88. Liverpool need just 88 points to win the league, that is if Arsenal win out. They have 10 matches and need 21 points in those 10.

• Home Cookin’. Liverpool have scored 2+ goals in 18 straight matches at Anfield.

• Sunday May 25. “Survival Sunday”. The last day of the EPL season is typically one of the most dramatic days in all of sport. Each match kicks off at the same time, often with a ton to play for for most clubs. While Survival Sunay is still 3 months and 11 matches away, it may be shaping up for one of the more “least dramatic” in recent history.

  • All Reds. Liverpool is running away with the title. Wins over City and Newcastle coupled with Arsenal dropping points give the Red's a 13-point lead with 10/11 to play and it seems clear they will clinch before May.

  • Relegation Battle. Stranger things have happened, but watching the way Ipswich, LCFC and Southampton are playing it’s hard to imagine any of the three will make a run to put pressure on Wolves. It’s gonna take a run of 4-5 wins by any of the clubs to separate themselves and make the last day matter, that is if Wolves keep losing.

  • Europe. The drama will most likely come from the battle for Europe. Not including Liverpool, there are 11 teams that seem like they could make a run for a Champions League, Europa League or EUFA Conference League spot. Let’s hope there are 5-6 matches that will matter in the standings.

  • Too many matches to talk in detail about - so here are the top 5 plays/links over MW26/27

    • Maguire - Man United. Down to 10 men and tied at 2 with Ipswich this header gave United a much needed 3 points. Link

    • Kluivert - Bournemouth. Not enough for points, but a rocket. Link

    • Bowen - West Ham. Jarrod Bown scored is 50th goal for the Hammers in a BIG upset win at the Gunners. Link

    • That was FAST - Newcastle. Down 1 home to Forest Newcastle score 4 in 12 minutes. Link

    • Asensio - Villa. Big 3 points on this gifted goal in the final minutes to put Villa up over Chelsea. Link

• Draws. There were just 3 draws the last 2 weeks and in the last 66 matches there have been just 7 draws total. Aston Villa have played in 4 of those 8 draws.

• Everton. That now 6 straight without a loss under David Moyes.

• Can Confirm. This signing was LOUD from the Liverpool travelers. Link

Current Situation 📈📉

Match Week 26 & 27 Recap

Not including Leicester and West Ham who have yet to play this Match Week, here are the results from the previous 2 weeks and points taken.

6️⃣👉👉Won Both Match Weeks

Just 3 teams took all 6 points the last 2 match weeks.

• Liverpool - Played at an elite level winning 2-0 at City and 2-0 home to Newcastle. Dominik Szoboszlai scored in both matches, along with Salah and Mac Allister.

• BHA - Big couple matches and BHA are right back in the battle for Europe. A dominating 4-0 win at Southampton and a solid 2-1 win over Bournemouth at home.

• Palace - Here come the Eagles. After going winless in the first 8 matches Palace continue to string wins together winning at Fulham 2-0 and home to Villa 4-1. That’s 20 points in their last 10 matches.

4️⃣👉👉Won 1 Drew 1

• Man United - Gut Check, two big efforts after being down. The first was at Everton where United scored twice after 72’ to grab a point. Next, at home to Ipswich, after going down to 10 men needed a 2H goal to get the game decider to win 3-2.

• Brentford - Ran all over Leicester City with 3 1H goals on route to a 4-0 at the King Power. Then looked like all three points were going to the Bee’s until Everton found a 2H goal to draw 1-1.

3️⃣👉👉Won 1 Loss 1

• Chelsea - Played great early at Villa but could only find 1 goal in the 1H and let Villa take over play in the 2H to lose 1-2. Nothing like a little Southampton match to get you back on track as the Blues dominated at Stamford Bridge 4-0.

• Aston Villa - Overcame a slow start home to Chelsea and did enough to take all three points 2-1 in a raucous crowd at Villa Park. But, as it seems to be with Villa, they do not have the legs to handle the schedule of Europe and the PL as they went to Palace just 3 days later and got run 1-4.

• Wolves - Great road win for Wolves at Bournemouth getting a clean sheet and much needed points in the relegation battle, winning 1-0. But, back home in the Molineaux got off to a slow start against Fulham. Down 1 Wolves evened things up at 18’ but Fulham got the only 1H goal and Wolves fall 1-2.

• Fulham - Lost at home to Palace 0-2 but then went on the road to Wolves and took all three points 2-1.

• Man City - Outclassed by Liverpool at home losing 0-2. Did not bring their “A” game to Spurs but did enough to get a road win 1-0.

• Tottenham - Nothing like a little Ipswich match to open things up as Spurs won 4-1 but again couldn’t keep momentum going as Spurs were outplayed at home by City losing 0-1.

• Newcastle - Had a GREAT 12-minute stretch scoring 4 times at home to Forest hand hanging on to win 4-3 but then got outclassed by Liverpool at Anfield 0-2.

• West Ham - One of the bigger upsets of the season going into Emirates and taking down Gunners 1-0. Have a chance to Thursday to take another 3 points at Leicester.

2️⃣👉👉Drew 2

• Everton - Really coulda shoulda been 6 points as Everton lost a 2-0 lead late to United settling for a point 1-1. At Brentford, Everton tied up the Bees at 77’ and had a couple great chances late for the winner but were not able to hit the net keeping it 1-1.

1️⃣👉👉Lost 1 Drew 1

• Forest - Tough week for the Tree’s. Played well enough at Newcastle for all three points except for a 12-minute stretch and ended up losing 3-4. At home to Gunners played well and took a point in a scoreless draw.

• Arsenal - Tough week for the Gunner’s. Completely dropped the ball at home losing to the Hammers 0-1. Then played well enough at Forest but took just a point in a scoreless draw.

0️⃣👉👉Lost 2

• Bournemouth - Tough sledding for the Cherries as they dropped a match at home to Wolves 0-1 and then went to BHA and were outplayed losing 1-2. Hurts their European chances, but there’s still plenty of time for another winning streak.

• Southampton - Back-to-back 0-4 losses home to BHA and at Chelsea.

• Ipswich Town - Drilled at home to Spurs 1-4 and then lost a great opportunity at United being a man up for the 2H losing 2-3.

• Leicester City - Just 1 match so far. Pounded 4-0 at home to Brentford and really must start taking points starting with West Ham Thursday. The foxes do have Man U, Southampton, Ipswich, Wolves still on the schedule.

CleanSheets Counter & Goal Tracker

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

Tips & Observations - Attending English Soccer Matches

Over the next several newsletters CS will highlight some things to consider if you are heading to England and want to take in a match. For those that have been there and want to send me your thoughts - just reply to this email!

Part 1 - Beer & Pub Language

Let’s start with Beer.

Guinness is the official beer of the EPL and CS can confirm they taste great at Etihad Stadium. But remember, the United Kingdom is really 4 countries, and Ireland is NOT one of them. So, when in English Pubs, Guinness is a good option but not English.

Something those of us from the States may not have much experience in is Cask Beers - a GREAT option if you like smooth flavorful beer.

What’s the difference?

Also known as “Real Ale”, cask beer is not carbonated like other beer that ends up in a Keg, Bottle or Can. Cask beer goes through fermentation in the cask itself, naturally carbonating the beer. The result is a fresher more flavorful beer, as there can be more nuanced flavors that the cask provides. Ales, Bitters and Porters are all available in a Cask Beer.

Best way to think about the brewing process - think Bourbon/Whiskey/Wine. The beer is brewed and then placed in a Cask - think barrel of varying materials like wood - sugar is added, the cask is sealed, and the beer sits in cold temperatures for a couple week to allow the beer to mature/ferment.

Serving - The conditioned beer is served via hand pumps or gravity to ensure freshness and avoid excessive carbonation. It takes longer to pour a cask beer - similar to a Guinness - you need to let the beer settle. This is not your traditional tap, and you do not buy it in a can or bottle at a pub.

If flying out of Manchester Airport - make a stop at the Tatton Arms - excellent British pub atmosphere and plenty of cask beer’s (and others) available.

Pub Language.

Some great food and atmospheres across the West Midlands. One thing they seemed to have in common, servers and other patrons would hear you speak and ask, “American?”. The easiest way to respond is say yes, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the reply was typically one of the following:

• Oh, the Books. And after a couple seconds realizing that means “Bucks”. Everyone seemed to relate Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Giannis Antetokounmpo.

• Blank Stare. Would have to give more detail, that Chicago is a suburb to the South.

• Why are you here. Which the best reply was, “to watch Socc.., um English Football.”

Recommendation: There are some great “5 star” restaurants, lots and lots of great non-English cuisine you don’t see in the States, BUT there is nothing like finding a great English Pub with great food and beverages.

Off Island 🏝️

Champions League

Here are the 8 teams advancing to the round of 16.

• Real Madrid (Spain) over City (England) 6-3

• Feyenoord (Netherlands) over AC Milan (Italy) aggregate 2-1

• Brugge (Belgium) over Atalanta (Italy) 5-2

• Bayern Munich (Germany) over Celtic (Scotland) 3-2

• Benfica (Lisbon) over Monaco (France) 4-3

• Dortmund (Germany) over Sporting (Lisbon) 3-0

• PSG (France) over Brest (France) 7-0

• PSV (Netherlands) over Juventus (Italy) 4-3

Round of 16 Match Ups - Home and Away

• Heavy weight match up when Liverpool take on PSG.

• Arsenal will have their hands full with PSV.

• Aston Villa got a good draw with Brugge.

• Big Bundesliga showdown as Bayern Munich take on Bayer Leverkusen.

• Big La Liga showdown as Real Madrid take on Atletico Madrid

Europa League

• Spurs take on AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands).

• Man United take on Real Sociedad (Spain).

• Both sides only chance at playing in Europe next season is by winning this league.

Europa Conference League

• Chelsea take on Copenhagen and will be big favorites to win the League.

Best Bets 💰

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