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25/26 Match Week 5 Recap
Equal Night, NFL V EPL & What Can Brown Do For You
nick lochner
September 23, 2025
☀️ Welcome to Fall 🌑
Yes Soccer & Football have been off and running for a couple weeks, and yes, the weather is pretty warm across the US the last couple weeks but September 22, 2025 officially kicks off the Autumnal Equinox.
Autumnal Equinox is the day the Sun is DIRECTLY ABOVE the Equator - and the day and night have equal length. equi is from the Latin aequus meaning “equal” and nox meaning “night”.
For those living in the Northern Hemisphere your days will be getting shorter between now and December 21. The Sun will then start heading back North and will pass back over the Equator on March 20, 2026.
Fall Has Arrived to Burnley
In Today’s CleanSheet:
Results 🏟️
Current Situation📈📉
Quick Kicks ⚽
Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Kissing Your Sister
Off Island 🏝️ - NFL v EPL
Best Bets 💰
Results 🏟️
Five Card Draw ♣️♠️❤️♦️
 | Newcastle has been a top 8 club in the EPL, is playing in Europe and has hopes for a top finish this season so it was strange to see the way they played at Bournemouth - defensively, playing for a draw. Just 4 shots, 1 on goal. The 2H saw only 1 shot on goal combined. In fact, this match had the lowest xG (Expected Goals) in the PL this season at .69. That is 3 straight goalless away league draws for Newcastle, there are 5 goalless draws in the PL this season. |
 | HEAVY RAIN impacted this one. Forest struck early at 2’ but couldn’t hold the lead as Burnley tied it at 20’ and really controlled the 1H. Sharing the points seemed to be the right outcome. Scott Parker agrees - “I think over the course of the game today we have some very good chances but Forest do as well, so a draw is probably a fair result.” |
 | Often times it’s not just who you play but when and where you play. Spurs had a tough assignement heading to the South Coast after a tough mid-week match in the CL. This is one of those situations where getting a point on the road is a solid result.
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 🟥= Red Card Impacted the match | Villa get their first goal of the season after catching a break as Sunderland went down to 10 men on an undisciplined reaction from Mandava at 33’. Yet, Villa could not hold the lead against the 10-man Black Cats and the points were shared.
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 | City hit the road and Haaland put them up in the first 10 minutes, which looked like it was going to hold. This match was a good old-fashioned slabber-knocker, aggressive play, hard challenges and lots of intensity.
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Home Winners 🏠🏠🏠
 🟥🟥= TWO Red Card Impacted the match | What a terrible decision by Chelsea keeper Roberto Sanchez to start the match putting Chelsea behind the 8 ball right away, and manager Maresca knew it as he changed tactics immediately by subbing out 2 wingers. Yet, after United went up 2 goals on a Casemiro strike he decided it was time to take his second yellow card, resulting in a red, at the end of the 1H giving Chelsea life heading into the 2H. The Blues could only find the net one time and United held on.
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 | The East London Derby looked like it would be a close one as the Bee’s took the lead only to see FFC score two before the half. Then an OG at 50’ was all the Cottagers would need to cruise to a win a Craven Cottage. |
 | It was all Reds in the 1H taking a 2-0 lead into HT. The 2H saw Everton take the advantage, getting a goal back at 58’ and increasing the pressure over the final 30’ yet they couldn’t find the equalizer.
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Road Winners 🛣️ 🛣️
 | Wolves got off to a great start at Molineaux going up 1 at 8’ but Leeds settled in and score 3 goals before half. And, that HT lead stood up.
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 | After another home loss the fans our out for Graham Potter’s head. Palace took the lead before HT on a Jean-Philippe Mateta goal. The Hammers tied it right out of the locker room on a Jarrod Bowen header. But, Palace answered on a Tyrick Mitchell strike at 68’ and took all three points. |
Current Situation 📈📉
Standings
Current Table 
| Season Clean Sheets by Team  4 Matches have finished 0-0 |
Goals & Clean Sheets
How does the current 25/26 season compare to EPL averages for goals and clean sheets.
Goals 27 Match Week 5 24.8 25/26 Season Average (G/MW)
| Clean Sheets 2 Match Week 5 6.8 25/26 Season Average (G/MW)
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Goal Scorers
Haaland (City) leads with 6 on the season, Ekiteke, Anthony, Isidor, and Richarlson have 3.
1 Goal Scorers (players season goals if more than 1)
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2 Goals
| 3+ Goals
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Quick Kicks ⚽
MW5 30,000 Foot View ✈️✈️✈️
Biggest winners of the weekend - Liverpool, as two title contenders share points - Gunners and City draw.
Wolves are in trouble.
Chelsea are disappointing.
Palace and Liverpool have yet to Lose.
Villa and Wolves have yet to win.
Newcastle, Villa and Palace have 3 draws in 5 matches.
Averages out - last week saw 10 Clean Sheets, this week just 2.
Hope the relegation race goes all the way to MW38, there could be 6 teams in contention, and two of those 6 may not be in the bottom 3 today.
The Ange schtick has worn off - realizing it did for many a long time ago. Good chance he does not finish the season at Forest.
How is UPS not a sponsor for Brentford on the road?
What Can Brown Do For You
Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥
💋💋DRAWS 💋💋
Draw, Tie, Stalemate - regardless of what you call it - Americans struggle to understand the value and excitement a Draw can bring. This is primarily because leagues in the US don’t historically use a “point based” system in the standings. NCAA Football used to have ties but then created an overtime structure that does change the way the game is played by giving each team the ball on the opponent’s side of the field. The NFL still has ties, but there is overtime, and a very small % of games finish in a tie.
DID YOU KNOW - American football coaches have called a game ending in a tie like “Kissing Your Sister”. But where did that come from?
In the 1800’s the idiom “kissing your sister” was used to describe something underwhelming, anticlimactic or lacking satisfaction. Then, the phrase entered the sports world to capture the frustration of an unresolved game - better than a loss, but unsatisfying. Here are 3 credited instances when the idiom took hold:
1946: Edgar E. “Rip” Miller, Navy’s assistant director of athletics said in reference of not kicking a game tying field goal - “That’s just like kissing your sister with your sweetheart standing by.”
1949: Miller used it again after a 21-21 tie with Army.
1949: Paul “Bear” Bryan “A tie ball game is like kissing your own sister - you haven’t accomplished much”.
There are countless instances of coaching using it after those instances.
In the EPL a DRAW can be very valuable, as 1 point is better than 0 and league standings can hinge on a point.
Draws occur in roughly 25-30% of matches.
For struggling teams, a draw against a stronger opponent secures a vital point without risking a loss. Mid-table games (e.g., 7th-14th place) from mid-season onward frequently end in draws due to low stakes and cautious play, helping maintain positions.
Teams may "park the bus" (e.g., 5-4-1 formation) to force a draw, especially away or when content with a point for qualification/group survival. Recent form, head-to-head records, and low-scoring tendencies (under 2.5 goals) predict these.
For more on “parking the bus” check out last weeks CS - 25/26 Match Week 4 Recap.
Off Island 🏝️
Soccer & Football
Your Annual NFL EPL comparison.
Best Bets 💰
Season - Up $75
MW1 ($14)
MW2 $183
MW3 ($10)
MW4 $43
MW5 ($127)
Match Week 5 Results
Down $127 - Ouch
L ($10) - Everton to Win or Draw at Liverpool +162. $10
L ($20) - Burnley to win v Forest +216. $20
L ($30) - BHA to Win v Tottenham +123. $30
W $23 - Wolves v Leeds Over 2.5 goals +117. $20
L ($30) - Bournemouth to Win v Newcastle +158. $30
L ($20) - Arsenal to win with a Clean Sheet v City +225. $20
L ($10) - Bournemouth, BHA to Win +435. $10
L ($10) - Burnley, Sunderland to Win +993. $10
L ($10) - BHA, Fulham, Bournemouth to Win +975. $10
L ($10) - Burnley/Forest, WH/Palace, FFC/Brentford, Sunderland/Villa each under 2.5g +880. $10
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