25/26 Match Week 3 Preview

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• What 2 Look 4 👀 

• Headlines 📌

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- EFL Cup

• Off Island 🏝️ - USMNT

• Best Bets 💰

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 3

(reminder - like driving on the other side of the road, in the PL, HOME teams are listed first)

• 6.4 Week. 6 Saturday, 4 Sunday. 10 out of 10 in terms of storylines this week.

Match of the Week 👑

• Liverpool +106 v Arsenal +246 SUN 1030 cst - Top 2 favorites to win the title. Both sides have looked good but not great yet. Gunners were sluggish at home in the opener while the Red’s have blown two 2-goal leads only to win late. Arsenal have yet to allow a goal, Liverpool have scored the most in the PL with 7. While it would be easy to say the winner would get a leg up in the title chase, at MW3 any result will be forgotten as the season goes along. The last 5 matches have seen both sides score, with a 3.4 goals per game average. The Gunner’s last won at Anfield in 2012. Should be a fun one.

Desperation ♣️♠️♥️♦️

Each home team is desperate for a win.

• Man United -285 v Burnley +706 SAT 9a - MU is desperate for a win. No more moral victories and big favorites and all 3 points are a must. The Clarets make the short trip down to Manchester where they have not won since 1962. Overall, the two sides have drawn 4 of the last 6 matches and United leads the all-time series 42W 30L 18D.

• Wolves +154 v Everton +185 SAT 9a - Wolves are desperate for a win. Wolves have not looked like a PL level side yet this season. City can do that to you, and taking a red card at Bournemouth is not how you want to start the season. Everton is coming off an emotional win opening their new stadium. These two sides have met 22 times since 2002 with pretty even results, Wolves 7W 6L 9D.

• BHA +310 v Man City -126 SUN 8a - BHA is desperate for a win. Looked like BHA had all three points in the opening weekend until FFC scored late to share points. Then BHA missed a PK at Everton, had great chances but just couldn’t find the net and they head home sitting on just 1 point. Yet, they are getting City coming off their own home loss, and Pep is usually pretty good at winning after a loss.

• Villa -114 v Palace +310 SUN 1p - Villa is desperate for a win. Villa has not looked good or energized this season, and they have yet to score a goal. Palace have good draws and are playing well and maybe with a chip on their shoulder as Oliver Glasner has been vocal about needing to add depth. Palace is 4W 1D in their last 5 against Villa.

Spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

• Chelsea -196 v Fulham +491 SAT 630a - WEST LONDON DERBY - The Blues have lost just one time to FFC at Stamford Bridge since 1979, last December when the Cottagers scored a 90+6’ goal to win 2-1. In the last 8 matches, the total goals scored between the two sides has been 3 or less. Like most rivalries, close games are expected. What is interesting is Chelsea’s dominance, in the last 26 matches Chelsea are 16W 2L 8D. All of these numbers are interesting as this Derby pits 2 sides just a mile from each other. Expect another low scoring match.

• Tottenham -145 v Bournemouth +350 SAT 9a - Thomas Frank has Spurs flying high after two really nice wins and a side that just looked energized and talented. The Cherries have looked pretty good as well, playing well in a win and loss (no shame in losing in the last min at Anfield). Spurs have owned this match up winning 6 of the last 7.

• Sunderland +180 v Brentford +153 SAT 9a - After losing the opening weekend the Bee’s got a great win against Villa and then mid-week in the EFL Cup at Bournemouth. That is a good sign for the new manager. Sunderland looked great opening weekend at home, but Burnley took it to them the next week. The Black Cats will be looking for some Stadium of Light magic again. These sides have met 22 times since 1934 where Sunderland are 10W 8L 4D. The last time they met in the PL was 2017, a 0-0 draw in Sunderland.

• Leeds +233 v Newcastle +111 SAT 1130a - Beware of a club that coulda’ shoulda’ won last week (home to Liverpool) heading on the road to a side that got drilled. Just because Newcastle looked great in defeat does not mean they will continue play at that level. Leeds have not lost in their last 8 at Elland Road. The Magpies have done well in this matchup with 9W 3L 5D. On paper this should be Newcastle’s to take, but they don’t play the match on paper.

• Forest -145 v West Ham +400 SUN 8a - @SiriusXMFC radio host of The Football Show and soccer announcer Tom Rennie (@thomasjrennie) is a West Ham fan. His take - paraphrased - “We (WH) need players, at least 3…not one element of Graham Potter’s formation works”. And, “Everyone at WH now in full naval gazing self-pity mode. Moaning about the badge the stadium, the Elizaeth Line, the shopping center. It’s so boring. The only thing that will move things on will be buying some players”. In CS opinion, he missed how the blowing bubbles thing might be the worst tradition in English Soccer. Anyways, this is the talk going into a road trip to Forest who have looked pretty good and play their best at home. Could be a long day for the Hammers.

Headlines 📌

• David v Goliath. Always need to put United first but this is about Grimsby Town. League Two (Level 4) side Grimsby Town hosted MU in the EFL Cup (see Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥below). Grimsby Town’s total player spend is $5M. Man United spent over $250M on 4 players this summer. GT took a 2 goal lead, United tied it late and PKs were needed to decide the winner. 12-11 to Grimsby Town. Manager Ruben Amorim is taking a lot of heat, and rightly so.

  • How not to keep a CS - Onana keeps struggling for Man United.

  • Harry Maguire saves the day for MU.

  • Absolute Scenes. Was raining a ton - watch the fans fall as they hit the pitch.

• Man United. MU are now out of the EFL Cup, not in Europe and have 1 point in the EPL.

• International Break coming up, Match Week 4 will be back September 13.

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

Carabao Cup = EFL Cup = “Moose Cup”

As a reminder - here is the how English Soccer “levels” work.

In parallel to the regular season in England there are TWO additional tournaments contested. The FA Cup (considered the most prestigious) is an open competition for ALL clubs down thru Level 11 (See graphic above). The Carabao Cup is a competition for all the clubs Level 1-4 ONLY.

Last season Newcastle hoisted the Cup for the FIRST time, although they do have 6 FA Cups.

Off Island 🏝️

USMNT

Less than 300 days to the world cup and 5 international windows (next week, Oct, Nov, Mar, June) which means the USMNT have about 10 games to play to prepare for the 2026 World Cup. And if the latest reaction to the USMNT roster announcement is any indication you best buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

The fan reaction has been fast and furious - ripping on Poch and the team. With the announcement of the roster Poch also said

• Paraphrasing: “we will be using this window to assess players…and players we know well (like Weston Mckinnie) will be left off this windows roster.”

• “I think it’s not necessary to move from MLS to Europe. Because sometimes MLS, under my assessment, maybe is more competitive than some leagues in Europe.”

The USMNT play South Korea on 9/6 in NJ and Japan on 9/9 in Columbus.

AND YES, Sonny will be playing in the USMNT v South Korea match. The new LAFC star will be playing for South Korea. I realize CS readers know that - but the Los Angeles Councilmember Heather Hutt (10th District), whose area includes Koreatown, does not: she told Son Heung-Min during his introductory press conference, “No pressure, when the World Cup comes, we’re expecting a win here in Los Angeles… for the USA.”

Best Bets 💰

MW1 Down $14.

MW2 Up $183.

CleanSheet Season Gains/Losses: Starting Balance $1000. Current Standing $1,169.

Forest to Win v West Ham -124. $25

Five Star Play. It’s possible the Hammer’s show up, but probably not.

Tottenham to win v Bournemouth -145. $29

Taking the hot side at home.

Sunderland to Win v Brentford +180. $20

Like the home side to find that home magic.

Everton to Win at Wolves +184. $20

Trust David Moyes to break down a Wolves side just short players, even at Molineaux.

Arsenal to Win at Liverpool +242. $20

It just feels like the Gunners are gunning for this one. In addition, Liverpool has some things to figure out on the defensive end. It’s possible Liverpool outscore Arsenal in a track meet, or even draw 2-2, but will go with a gut feeling and take the side that wants to prove a point and is on par talent wise.

Chelsea to Win via CS v FFC +157. $20

Going with the dominance Chelsea has at Stamford Bridge over FFC and since these are usually low scoring going to take better odds on a CS for The Blues.

Burnley to Win at Man United +701. $10

This line jumped up from +450 to +701 after United lost to Grimsby Town. I’m not so sure United are going to be “pissed and motivated” to roll this weekend. If this match stays close and Burnley defensively frustrate United maybe they sneak a win when MU are down.