24/25 Match Week 28 Preview

Buckle in you Aussies

Hope all the CS subscribers (and everyone) around Brisbine Australia are doing well - Cyclone Alfred has hit the area with a bunch of rain, wind and waves. It’s been a while since a Cyclone hit the SE corner of Queensland/NE corner of New South Wales, the last Cyclone to hit the Brisbane/Gold Coast area - Zoe, 1974. Before then Annie hit on New Year’s Day in 1963 and Dinah in 1967. Major flooding is expected and winds gusting over 80mph and rain that could reach 30 inches.

The Australian WPGA Championship and two Ausie Football League matches have been called off.

AND - last October adventurer Aurimas Mockus set off from San Diego in a covered rowboat and was in the final push of his 7500-mile voyage across the Pacific Ocean to Brisbane when he hit 50mph winds and stormy seas and became stranded. A Warship from the Australian Royal Navy picked up the stranded sailor and is taking him to Sydney. The first person (arguably) to row from the US (SF) across the pacific was a Brit, Peter Bird in 1983.

In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• Current Situation📈📉

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Part 3 - Experiences

• Off Island 🏝️ - Europe Leagues

• Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

• CS Match of the Week. Forest +280 v Man City +-110 SUN 1030a - Interesting to see the home side who is ahead in the table of the visitor that big of an underdog this late in the season. But that’s what the bookies have been doing to Forest all season and the reputation of Pep and the defending champs.

• 6.3.1 Week. 6 Saturday, 3 Sunday, 1 Monday.

• Club World Cup. $1B. FIFA announced prize money for the tournament that is being held in the US this summer and it’s huge. Chelsea and Man City will be playing in the tournament along with 30 other teams from around the world. Winning club will most likely pocket $100M. WOW.

• 64 Teams. Not the NCAA Tournament, which is 68, but the World Cup. FIFA is considering expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams. That’s 2X the teams!

• Time Change. The US moves their clocks ahead Saturday Night, but the UK does not move their clocks ahead until March 30 - so you will notice the times will be an hour later than usual in the US for a couple weeks.

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 28

Big Favorites 🦣🦣🦣

• Liverpool -1000 v Southampton +2000 SAT 9a - Can the Red’s keep their focus. A nice mid-week win in France at PSG for Liverpool, and they get a Saints side with just 2 wins on the season. When the sides met in November Liverpool needed 2 late goals by Mo Salah to win 3-2 at St Mary’s Stadium.

• Chelsea -500 v Leicester City +1100 SUN 9a - Chelsea’s manager Enzo Maresca takes on his former side in the Foxes, but it really doesn’t feel like his side as they were flying high under Maresca last season in the Championship and this season have been overmatched.

• Palace -220 v Ipswich Town +600 SAT 9a - Palace has been sneaky good since the end of October, just 4 losses in 19 matches and Europe is not out of sight if they keep their quality. The Tractor Boys are where they should be with just 3 wins, in the relegation zone, last winning at the end of December against Chelsea.

Table Mates 🔗🔗🔗

• BHA -105 v Fulham +270 SAT 9a - 8 v 9 in the table. BHA have rattled off 3 PL wins in a row while FFC have won 4 of 6. Winner could jump up to 6th in the table.

• Brentford +130 v Aston Villa +180 SAT 1130a - 11 v 12 in the table. 10 points in 6 matches for the Bee’s, 12 for Villa.

• Wolves +150 v Everton +185 SAT 2p - 17 v 16 in the table. Everton have not lost in 7 and seem safe from relegation, in fact if David Moyes keeps their form, they have a shot at top 10 this season. Wolves need to start taking advantage of Molineaux and take 3 points at home - just 6 wins on the season - 3 at home and 3 on the road.

Interesting Home Dogs 🐕🐩🐶🐕‍🦺

• Forest +280 v Man City -110 SAT 630a - See Above.

• Tottenham +160 v Bournemouth +140 SUN 9a - You never know what you will get with Spurs this season, if they come to play and are clicking, they will win, if not they will lose. The Cherries have had a tough run losing 3 of their last 4 and like last season are showing some signs of streakiness under Iraola.

• Man United +400 v Arsenal -130 SUN 1130a - This would normally be a MAJOR clash, but not this year. Old Trafford has not been a home pitch advantage for United and the Gunners are coming off a 7-goal drubbing of Brugge in the Champions League.

• West Ham +210 v Newcastle +120 MON 3p - “Monday Night Football” matchup for the Hammers, who welcome the Magpies to East London under the lights. The Hammers have won 2 in a row including a big upset at the Emirates while Newcastle have lost 2 of 6.

Current Situation 📈📉

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!

Last CS we covered:

• Part 1 - Beer & Pub Language

• Part 2 - Experience

Today:

Part 3 - Tickets

Getting tickets to soccer matches in England can be tricky. Couple things to be aware of if you are heading over and want to take in a match.

• Scheduling - While the Match Week schedule - who you play, where and which match week - the exact dates and times typically get announced approximately 6 weeks prior to the match. So, while you know Chelsea will be playing Liverpool in Match Week 20, you will need to wait to know if the match is Fri, Sat, Sun or Mon.

• Home/Away sections - You cannot be a fan of the visiting team and go to the match unless you have tickets in the AWAY section. There are separate gates to enter, and access in the stadium is completely shut off except for your section. This means no away team colors or cheering for them in 90% of the stadium.

• Rescheduling - As the season goes along, games will get rescheduled if a team is advancing in other tournaments like the FA Cup or Champions League. You will need to be aware of that schedule.

• Understand the Size - While Bournemouth is not the draw of a Unite or City, their stadium only holds 12,000 people with 1200 of those tickets going to away fans which will most definitely be bought up. Much harder to get a ticket in a that stadium than Old Trafford.

• Know the matchup - It helps to know the significance of the matchup. Tickets to the Manchester Derby are much more difficult to come by than when United plays Ipswich Town.

Couple strategies for getting tickets.

1. Sign up for the Club Fan Account - Tickets are “released” for the home team over a specified schedule. Season ticket holders are first on the list. Then, fans who have a fan account are prioritized. For example, if you have bought tickets before you are higher on the list than if you have never bought tickets. If you have a fan account, you will be kept up to date on ticket releases and if there are available tickets you can go out and buy them. Tickets become available at different times. If a season ticket holder can no longer attend, they can give the ticket back to the club, get a refund and then the club will sell the ticket.

2. Hospitality - Each club has different hospitality packages. At the basic level a hospitality ticket get’s you into an on-site lounge, a beverage, snacks and game ticket. At the highest level a hospitality ticket gets you into a white tablecloth dining room with access to former players, club executives, and open bars. Buying tickets this way are generally more expensive but can be more available. You can spend anywhere from $50 to over $1000 for this kind of experience.

3. Ticket Exchanges - Many people have a Ticketmaster/StubHub or similar account in the US. The UK has their own versions of these, and you need to use those sites. Livefootballtickets.com is a reputable one. So is Vividseat.com.

4. Friend & Family - Never hurts to have a college, friend or family who works in England with connections to clubs.

Off Island 🏝️

Match 1 of 2 Complete in all Competitions

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Liverpool

• In Paris - PSG 0-1 Liverpool. PSG DOMINATED the stats and you could say deserved to win, but it’s goals that matter and Liverpool heads back to Anfield next week with a 1 goal advantage. Alisson saved 9 shots. PSG had scored 40 goals in their last 10 matches. Alisson now has Liverpool’s record for clean sheets in the Champions League, 22.

Good look at the shot map, Liverpool in the red. Here the only goal of the match.

7 Spot

• In Holland it was all Gunners, putting up 7 goals on PSV and taking a SIX goal advantage back to the Emirates next week. This one is over. PSV 1-7 Arsenal.

Cushion

• In Brussels, Villa would’ve liked to head back to Villa Park next week tied or even up a goal, well they did one better than that scoring two goals after 80’ and beating Brugg 3-1.

Harry Kane

• In Munich, Bayern Munich took it to Bayer Leverkusen 3-0., with a brace for Harry Kane - a goal a 9’ and again at 75’ and that leaves a nice cushion heading into the second match next week in Leverkusen

10-man Road Win

• In Lisbon, a red card put Barcelona down a man at the 22’ minute mark against Benfica, no matter they found a goal in the 2H when Raphinha scored and Barca head back to Spain with a goal lead. Benfica 0-1 Barcelona.

Up in the Air in Madrid

• At Real Madrid, the home side did enough to take a 1 goal lead across town next week as Atletico Madrid will hope for some home cooking to knock RM out of the CL for the first time ever. Real Madrid 2-1 Atletico Madrid

Advantage Lille

• In Germany, Dortmund took an early lead over Lille but couldn’t add to it and it is the French side that will be heading home tied up. Dortmund 1-1 Lille.

Advantage Inter

• In Holland, Inter did what AC couldn’t do and now Inter Milan take a 2 goal lead back home to Italy. Feyenoord knocked out AC Milan to get this this point but it looks like it will take a big road win by 3 goals to advance.

EUROPA LEAGUE

• In Spain, the struggles continue for Man United as they will head back to Manchester for the second leg down 2 goals. Real Sociedad 2-0 Manchester United.

• In Holland, Spurs put themselves in position to advance by drawing with AZ Alkmaar 1-1. The sides will head to North London for match 2 next week.

UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE

• Chelsea hosted Copenhagen and took care of business. They will head to Denmark next week with a 3-goal cushion.

The knockout phase has been determined. Chelsea will play one of two teams - the winner of Gent-Real Betis OR the winner of Copenhagen-Heidenheim.

Best Bets 💰

Match Week 28

Let’s see if a week in England attending matches can translate to winners!

Everton to Win at Wolves +189. $20

Cunha is out this weekend (red card) and Moyes has the Toffee’s playing free. Can Wolves score without Cunha? maybe, but Everton have been stout and +180 is a good number to take.

Chelsea to Win v Leicester City by 2.5 goals +141. $20

Chelsea have been underperforming, “who can Chelsea beat”, I’ve heard said. Well, the Foxes are a good team to test that against as this could be a way for Chelsea to right the ship and make a push for top 4, it’s there for the taking.

Win by Clean Sheet.

Liverpool to Win v Southampton with a HT Draw +285. $20

Expect somewhat of a letdown coming off the big win in Paris with a big 2H for Liverpool. Liverpool played defensively at PSG mid-week. Expect the offensive gates to open in the 2H, even with several second 11 players getting more minutes. Tough one to be on given the big numbers so let’s take a swing.

BHA Fulham to Draw +265. $20

FFC has played BHA tough not losing in 9 matches. FFC has also been good on the road lately winning 3 straight. Pair that with BHA’s resurgence and this looks like it will be a tight game, with goals. Let’s take the +250 for the draw.

Brentford to Win v Villa +126. $50

Villa has struggled to string winning matches together with the full European Schedule. Not surprisingly the Bee’s are favored at home and well rested, that means Thomas Frank will have them prepared.

West Ham to Win v Newcastle +210. $20

The Magpies have struggled in London this year, 1W 3L 3D. They do get Isak back this week, but the Hammer’s have been showing more of late. +210 is enough of a line to grab.

Arsenal to Win at United -135. $54

Riding the momentum. Arsenal took out frustration mid-week scoring 7 road goals and I expect them to take out some PL frustration on the road again this week. Old Trafford has not been a home pitch advantage for a couple years now but the interesting stat - versus big 6 clubs this year United is 1W 4L 2D while Arsenal are 4W 3D.