24/25 Match Week 29 Preview

Big weekend for NCAA Basketball Fans when the 68 “Best” college basketball teams are announced into the Tournament Field. Best of luck to your team! CS picks will be released next week.

In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• Current Situation📈📉

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Part 5 - Planning

• Off Island 🏝️ - Europe Leagues

• Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

• CS Match of the Week. Arsenal -125 v Chelsea +340 SUN 830a - NORTH DERBY (North v West). Both sides sitting in Champions League spots and both sides not happy with the way they are playing. Each had a solid mid-week, and the Gunners have lost just 1 match in 23 but 7 draws when you are in a title race will not get it done. The Blues feasted on the bottom of the table beating Wolves, West Ham, Southampton and Leicester City in their last 7 matches but losing the other 3 against middle/top of the table sides.

• 5.3 Week. 5 Saturday, 2 Sunday.

• 8 Matches. Just 8 matches this weekend - The Carabao Cup is Sunday between Liverpool and Newcastle. Their matches have been rescheduled - Villa/Liverpool played a couple weeks ago while Newcastle/Palace will be played in a couple weeks.

• PSV Fans. PSV played at Arsenal in London on Wednesday. They were down 7-1 in aggregate but that did not stop visiting fans from having a great time and that included taking in a Wimbledon v Cheltenham match in League 2 (level 4). The brought the energy!

• Summer Teams. United, Everton, West Ham and Bournemouth will be heading to the USA this summer playing games in New Jersey, Atlanta and Chicago between July 25-August 3.

• Stadium Rendering. What do you think? Will hold 100,000.

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 29

London Derby’s 🏇🏇

• Arsenal -125 v Chelsea +340 SUN 830a - LONDON DERBY (North v West). Both sides sitting in Champions League spots and both sides not happy with the way they are playing.

• Fulham -105 v Tottenham +250 SUN 830p - LONDON DERBY (West v North). The Cottagers need to get over the last-minute loss at BHA and put on a great performance at home if they want to continue on their Europe aspirations. Spurs need to string more solid performances together, home or road really hasn’t been a factor, just their play.

Relegation Notables 📝📝📝

• Ipswich Town +260 v Forest +1200 SAT 10a - Can the Tree’s refocus after the emotional win over City last week? The Tractor Boys have been in many of their matches and will try to keep this one close late and steal some points.

• Southampton +250 v Wolves +100 SAT 10a - Relegation battle. Saints are probably heading to Championship; Wolves could separate themselves with a road win.

• Leicester City +320 v Man United -125 SUN 2p - Must win for the Foxes. Ruud van Nistelrooy takes on his former club at the King Power. Both sides struggling.

Home Favorites 🍩🍩🍩

• Man City -160 v BHA +380 SAT 10a - Another chance for a club to beat City and jump over them in the table and BHA have been in form to do so but it will be tough heading into the Etihad where City will be looking to get back into the top 4.

• Everton +110 v West Ham +270 SAT 10a - David Moyes hosts his former club in the Hammers where he had a lot of success. Everton have not lost in 8 matches while Graham Potter is getting more out of West Ham than they had been showing.

• Bournemouth -140 v Brentford +340 SUN 1230p - The Cherries and Bee’s have struggled of late both sitting in the middle of the table. Three points for either side could provide solid momentum.

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

• Part 3 - Tickets

• Part 4 - Geography

Today:

Part 5 - Planning

Going to English Soccer Matches, heading over from the US, is pretty easy but there are some things you can do to make for a smooth(er) experience.

Location

London has lots of direct flights from the US and many teams right there. You can pretty much guarantee a couple home matches for a Match Week. No need to rent a car if you are just going to London and plan to stay in the City. Lots to see and do in London around any matches.

• Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Palace, Brentford, Tottenham, West Ham are all currently in the PL and in London. There are Championship teams that would be great options too, QPR, Millwall, Luton Town among others.

Midlands also has several teams and you can pretty much guarantee a match or two during any Match Week and if you are looking for a Championship match, several more. This includes cities around Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. Sheffield, Leeds, West Brom, Stoke to name a few.

• Liverpool, Everton, Man United, Man City, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, are current options. The Championship has several more with Burnley, Blackburn, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds, West Brom, Stoke to name a few. You are also within an hour of Wrexham.

North or South. If you’re looking to get the Newcastle that will take some extra planning. Very possible as you can check out all the great countryside. You can get to the South Coast of England in a couple hours from London and there are some nice resort towns in that direction. Bournemouth, Southampton, BHA are all options on the South Coast.

Getting There

Lots of direct flights from the US to London. Most times of the year it’s a 6-hour time difference (England +6 hour from US CST). Catch a flight that leaves the US early evening that will get you there in the AM the next morning. Get some sleep on the plane and plan to stay up all day after you land. May want to have a light day when you arrive.

If you’re heading out of London, it’s easy to rent a car out of Heathrow. There are also so many options to connect across Europe and fly direct to Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham.

Hotels

Like the US in that there are high end “5-star” options all the way down to budget places you may want to avoid. Believe it or not, Holiday Inn is good mid-priced option if you are on a budget. Where it seems England hotels are better than the US is the food/restaurant. Most hotels have good restaurants included or at least have a good pub restaurant right next door. Many offer breakfast and have food options that are very good. You can trust the ratings on booking sites like booking.com.

Game Day Transportation

Depending on where you are it’s important to figure out your transportation options. Getting to the match can be pretty easy but getting back from the match can be a big struggle. If there is a close train station, like in London, expect large lines (queue’s). Walking is an option for some stadiums. Chelsea is about an hour walk from London city center. If you uber/taxi, try to arrange a pick-up at a specific location away from the stadium. If you have a car, check your parking options well in advance and if you can buy a reserved spot, do it.

Money

Have yet to use cash in England. Everything can be purchased by card. Just tap and go. In terms of tipping, there really is no tipping expected.

Electricity

Make sure to take an adaptor. You can get them with plugs and UBS options for $10-15. In terms of mobile phones, most hotels and cars have UBS ports, so no adaptor needed.

Off Island 🏝️

Elite 8’s Decided

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Great Tight Matches 👖👖👖

• Liverpool 1-1 (1-4) PSG - PENALTIES - PSG advances on Penalties on the road and a disappointing exit for the Reds.

• Real Madrid 2-2 (4-2) Atletico Madrid - PENALTIES - So close, but yet far as RM advance again.

  • Look at this entrance from Atletico Madrid, horses and all.

  • Controversy - This Penalty taken by Atletico was ruled no good due to a double hit….

    • Atletico Manager Diego Simeone - “To anyone here: raise your hand if you saw that Julián touched the ball twice in the penalty. Come on! And? Ready? Nobody raises theirs. Another question. I’ve never seen VAR call to review a penalty in a shootout”.

• Dortmund 3-2 Lille. Two 2H goals was enough for Dortmund to advance at home.

Blowouts - Aggregates 💣💣💣💣💣

• Bayern Munich 5-0 Bayer Leverkusen

• Inter Milan 4-1 Feyenoord

• Barcelona 4-1 Benfica

• Arsenal 9-3 PSV

• Villa 6-1 Brugge

Elite 8 Home-Away Matchups

EUROPA LEAGUE

• Manchester United finally scored a bunch of goals and beat Real Sociedad in aggregate 5-2.

• Spurs beat AZ Alkmaar 3-2 in aggregate.

UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE

• Chelsea beat Copenhagen 3-1 in aggregate.

Best Bets 💰

Match Week 29

$1000 Budget - 10 Match Week’s Remain

Everton to Win v West Ham +110. $20

Can Everton keep the unbeaten streak going, with a win, as David Moyes takes on his former side. Goodison magic says yes.

Leicester City to Win v Man United +320. $20

Now or never for the Foxes, can King Power will them to a win. United are better but not playing at a high level.

Wolves to Win at Southampton +100. $20

Wolves are better and Southampton seems to find ways to lose.

Forest to Win at Ipswich Town +100. $40

The Tree’s continue to be undervalued, 2 units.

Bournemouth to Win v Brentford -140. $48

2 Units on the Cherries.