In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• What 2 Look 4 👀 

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Pot Pourri

• Off Island 🏝️ - Champions, Europa, Europa Conference Knockout Set

• Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

• Pencil This One In. The Northwest Derby. Liverpool v Man United Sunday 1030am cst on NBC. Liverpool enters the match at the Top of the Table and Man United are coming off a rough week - losing 0-3 to Bournemouth and being eliminated from the Champions League with a 0-1 loss to Bayern Munich, both at home.

• Arguably (1min fun read at 90min.com) the #1 rivalry in the history of the PL. Separated by 35 miles, both sides have “in city rivals” - Everton for Liverpool and City for United - yet this rivalry goes beyond soccer. The Reds dominated in the 70’s and 80’s, United in the 90’s and 2000’s. Together they have won 39 league titles, 20 FA Cups and 9 European/Champions League Cups. United lead the series with 82 Wins, Liverpool has 71 Wins. There have been 58 Draws.

• Beyond Soccer - Manchester dominated the economic and industrial development through the 18^th century but in the 19^th and 20^th century Liverpool grew to supersede Manchester largely from its port and became known as the British Empire’s second city.

• A big point of contention came with the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894. The Canal, funded by Manchester merchants and opposed by Liverpool politicians, generated significant competition and ill will among the cities for economic, trade and business reasons.

• You might notice in both Man United and Man City’s crests a ship is included, directly related to the Canal.

• 1. 5. 4. Weekend. 1 Friday, 5 Saturday, 4 Sunday.

• Rebecca Welch. The PL announced she will be the first woman referee to lead a match - December 23, Fulham v Burnley.

• Managerial Rumors. Always interesting when names are being tossed around as replacements when there are no openings. Top of the list right now are Graham Potter (former BHA & Chelsea), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid) and Julen Lopetegui (Wolves).

• 150. Mo Salah, Liverpool, has scored 150 goals in the PL. 90 seconds of highlights (X).

• Relegation Odds. The latest odds to be relegated:

  • -1200 Sheffield United (bet $1200 to win $100)

  • -550 Luton Town

  • -225 Burnley

  • +275 Forest (win $275 on $100 bet)

  • +700 Everton

  • +700 Palace

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 17

All teams home last 2 match weeks are away this weekend. This week's games are in order of Largest to Smallest stadium attendance.

62k - London Stadium

• West Ham v Wolverhampton (Sun) - Unbeaten in six, the Hammers got hammered at Fulham last weekend 0-5, then played Frieberg mid-week. How much will they have in the emotional tank taking on a rested Wolves? Definitely a trickly spot for West Ham.

61k - Anfield

• Liverpool v Man United (Sun) - See Above.

60k - Emirates Stadium

• Arsenal v BHA (Sun) - Both teams played mid-week but BHA needed a result and are hurting. This match would feel much closer if the Seagulls were fresh, but they aren’t.

· 53k - Etihad Stadium

• Man City v Palace (Sat) - Palace missed some home opportunities for points while City has been struggling (for City). City are BIG favorites at home at -600.

52k - St James’ Park

• Newcastle v Fulham (Sat) - It’s been a tough, exhausting run for Newcastle. Losing at home to AC Milan in the CL on Wednesday was a big setback. It’s good the Magpies are at home but they may be out of gas. FFC is coming off back to back 5-0 wins and will look to ride that momentum for an upset.

40k - Stamford Bridge

• Chelsea v Sheffield United (Sat) - This match seems to come down to which Chelsea team shows up. SU is coming off just their second win of the season and will look to pull off a big upset.

30k - City Ground

• Forest v Tottenham (Fri) - The Trees “stopped the bleeding” with a draw at Wolves. Spurs are getting healthier and can score. Forest manager Steve Cooper is in trouble, the players came out in support this week, now they need to take that to the pitch.

17k - Community Stadium

• Brentford v Villa (Sun) - Villa coming off a huge week beating City and Arsenal and now have to go on the road against a struggling Bees side that is fighting through injuries. Why is Villa +110 to win, shouldn't it be -200? What do the bookies know?

22k - Turf Moor

• Burnley v Everton (Sat) - The Clarets got a great road point at BHA from a great effort in goal, but this will be a tall task catching Everton at their best on the season.

11k - Vitality Stadium

• Bournemouth v Luton Town (Sat) - Been a great run for the Cherries over their last 7 matches and they have a chance to distance themselves from the relegation zone with a win over the Hatters. Luton Town needs to stop with the moral victories, close losses to good teams last minute and get points from this one.

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

Pot Pourri - “A mixture of things”

No Theme - Just Interesting (I guess that is the theme)

Save of the year candidate……not a keeper.

The Magic of Group Play…..

Underground Nightclub!

There have always been celebrity sightings at English Soccer matches, but it seems to have become more of a thing that a celebrity show their support for lower tier clubs. The latest, Ed Sheeran and Ipswich Town of the Championship. While this is also a thing in MLS (see Matthew Mcconaughey David Beckam, Will Farrell) there seems to be an underground movement in NON-MAJOR clubs in the UK….

• Birmingham - Tom Brady

• Burnley (although they were promoted) - JJ & Kealia Watt

• Wrexham - Rob & Ryan

• Bournemouth - Michael B Jordan

• Leicester City - CleanSheet

• Swansea City - Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor in The Office)

• Watford - Elton John (has been a fan for decades)

First Ever Champions League Point

Royal Antwerp had never earned a point in the Champions League, and while they finished 4th in the group and were eliminated, they beat a top European club Barcelona.

Woody Hayes

If you haven’t seen it - here is Woody punching a Clemson player in 1978. While different, we had a President of a club punch a referee on the field at the end of a match in Turkey that is getting a lot of attention. 1 min article.

Off Island 🏝️

For more detail, here is a link to EUFA Champions League coverage, Europa League, and Europa Conference.

Champions League Group Matches Complete - Draw is MONDAY 12/18.

• Man United and Newcastle were knocked out finishing last in the Groups.

• Dortmund are surprise winners of their group.

• PSG survive and advance to knockout round by getting a draw versus Dortmund.

• AC Milan, semi-finalists last year of the Champions League, are now in the Europa League.

• Great result making knockout by PSV, great experience for 3 USMNT players.

• Knock Out (Sweet 16) Round Participants by Country

  • Spain - 4

  • Germany - 3

  • Italy - 3

  • England - 2

  • France - 2

  • Denmark - 1

  • Netherlands - 1

How it works from here…..

• Group Winners Will be in “Pot 1” for the draw.

• Second Place will be in “Pot 2”.

• Third Place will move to Europa Conference and compete with those teams that advanced out of the Group Stage.

Europa League

• West Ham beat Freiburg 2-0 in London. The Hammers win the Group.

• Liverpool traveled to Brussels to take on Union SG and lost 2-1. As expected, they played their second team since they had already won the Group.

• BHA got a late goal and beat Marseille to win the Group.

• Winning the Group is a big deal for all three teams as they will not have to play the initial knockout round against the third place Champions League teams.

Europa Conference - all matches Thursday

• Aston Villa traveled to Croatia and drew with Zrinjski 1-1. The draw puts them top of the Group and they will now have a European break until March when the knockout round starts.

  Champions League. Europa League. Europa Conference. Check out the Off Island section of the match week 4 preview clean sheet for more on The Champions League.

Best Bets 💰

Guest Picker

Everton are the 5th best road team this season, boasting a 4-1-2 record, with Burnley the worst home team on the season at 1-0-7.

Pick: Everton (+110)  // risk $30 to win $33 

Newcastle are without Trippier due to suspension and have several key injuries.  Fulham have been playing like Brazil; expect them to fall back to earth.

Pick: Both halves under 1.5 goals (+175) // Risk $20 to win $35 

The last time City was winning at the half against Crystal Palace was in January 2021.  The last 5 matches have seen Palace level or leading at the break.

Pick: Palace +0.5 in first half (+140) // Risk $20 to win $28 

Liverpool have the second most goals scored at home on the season, with United having several first-team defenders subbed off midweek due to injury.  Liverpool have won 3 of the last 4 matches by 4+ goals.

Pick: Liverpool -2 (+175) // Risk $20 to win $35 

$5 flyers

Luton Draw No Bet (+320) parlayed with NFO Draw No Bet (+$220)  // Risk $5 to win $62

Brentford (+220)  WHU (+115) CHE (-400) // Risk $5 to win $43

CleanSheet Picker Standings

CleanSheet Season Gains/Losses: Starting Balance $1000. Current Standing $1,129.

Everton to Win at Burnley +110. $20.

Tottenham Forest O3.0 +100. $20.

Arsenal to Lead at H & Win v BHA -105. $21.

Liverpool Man United U3.5 +100. $20.

Fulham to Win at Newcastle +300. $20.

Fulham Newcastle O2.5 -135. $27.