In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• What 2 Look 4 👀 

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Sweet 16

• Off Island 🏝️ - VAR - In Belgium

• Best Bets 💰

BREAKING NEWS - From Friday

Jurgen Klopp announced this will be his last year as manager of Liverpool. CleanSheet tries not to take sides or play favorites, but JK is one of our favorites. Here’s an article from NBCSports. You can view his interview here.

From @premierleague on X - 90s of Klopp celebrations

In summary - Klopp turned Liverpool around, won trophies and the heart of the club and supporters. Klopp said he is tired and needs a break. Said he will not be coaching for at least a year.

CleanSheet coming to you from Breckenridge, Colorado this week.

Headlines 📌

• Pencil This One In. Liverpool v Chelsea Wednesday 25pm on Peacock. Both teams advanced to the Championship of the Carabao Cup set for February 25. The winner will earn a spot in the Europa Conference next season. That is a big deal for Chelsea as they currently sit 9^th in the Table and will need to make a run to the top 6 for Europe next year with a loss in that Championship game. Liverpool has its sights set higher, and while that match will be to win the first of the 4 major cups (others being PL, Europe, FA) this PL match will set the tone for the run through the rest of the season. Liverpool would like to stay top of table and keep some space between them and City.

• 5. 3. 2. Weekend. 5 Tuesday, 3 Wednesday, 2 Thursday.

• Maidstone United. The Stones, from Level 6 beat the second-place team in the table of the Championship.

  • The Manager. George Elokobi talking to the fans before the match.

  • The Stones Take the Lead. (X)

  • Another Angle. (X)

  • The celebration. (X)

  • What do you do after you win? Go to work. Remember this is Level 6. (X)

  • The shot chart is below, tells a good story.

• Hooliganism. “Violent or rowdy behavior by young troublemakers, typically in a gang”. Hooliganism was a big problem in English soccer, particularly in the 60’s-90’s. That has been removed from the culture for the most part. However, in the FA Cup where West Brom hosted Wolves, the match was delayed 30 min for fighting in the stands.

  • Pre-Match Chant captures the mood perfectly. (15s X) SOUND UP

  • The start of the trouble. (30s X)

  • Article on what happened (SkySport), which is still uncertain.

  • This was only the third match between teams in 10 years, although it is a rivalry from the Black Country of England - The Black Country is an area of England's Midlands. It is mainly urban, covering most of the Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall Metropolitan Boroughs, with the City of Wolverhampton sometimes included.

• “A Significant VAR Error”. New precedent being set, Anderlecht's Dec. 23 win over Genk in Belgium will be wiped and replayed due to a "significant VAR error." Genk protested through a court and won the case. Quick article at ESPN.

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 22

Road Dogs 🌭🌭

• Fulham v Everton +185 (Tue) - Everton would be sitting ahead of FFC in the table if they had their 10 point deduction back, and to distance themselves they are going to need to start collecting points against middle of the table teams. That will be difficult at Craven Cottage where FFC performs much better than on the road earning 18 points at home and only 6 on the road. Everton has been better on the road earning 16 points.

• Palace v Sheffield United +450 (Tue) - Rumor is Eagles manager Roy Hodgson will be managing for his job. While he is scheduled to retire at the end of the season anything but 3 points at home to The Blades may be the end of a brilliant career. SU has started to look like they belong in the league, a change from the first 15 matches.

• Villa v Newcastle +260 (Tue) - The best home team this season earning the most points and scoring the most goals at 2.8 per, against a team that struggles on the road allowing 2.2 goals for 18^th best in the league.

• Tottenham v Brentford +400 (Wed) - James Maddison is a welcome addition back to Spurs who clearly missed him in the midfield. Brentford is also excited to have Ivan Toney back, and Toney seems to be trying to make up for lost time. Spurs will still be without Sonny but expect a lot of scoring in this one.

• Man City v Burnley +2500 (Wed) - City kicked the season off at Burnley with a solid 3-0 win. With Kevin de Bruyne back, expect City to look to sharpen up their game early and try to take the fight out of the Clarets early. Burnley will hope to hang around and snag a point.

• Liverpool v Chelsea +360 (Wed) - See Above.

• West Ham v Bournemouth +180 (Thur) - The Cherries finished the first half of the season on fire and were excited to have Liverpool at home last time out and while the 1H looked good they gave up 4 2H goals and it seemed they were exposed. West Ham will be looking forward to playing at home after feeling like they got shafted at SU in a 2-2 draw. Either team could win 4-0, this could end 0-0. Which sides will show up.

Home Dogs 🌭🌭

• Forest +600 v Arsenal (Tue) - Arsenal seem to have figured out their scoring issues and they hope to take that finding on the road to Forest who really have been poor at home and on the road. The managerial change from Cooper to Nuno so far has had a positive effect, now can the Trees find that home magic they are used to and take points for a top of the table side.

• Luton Town +380 v BHA (Tue) - The Hatters have 7 points in their last 4 matches and are looking to make a run out of the relegation position they find themselves in. High flying Brighton have suddenly forgot how to score drawing their last two matches 0, getting just 6 points in their last 4 matches and falling out of the European spots in the Table.

• Wolverhampton +170 v Man United (Thur) - Not a big dog as MU is only +145 to win. Both sides will be missing key pieces, but most newsworthy is the injury to Anthony Martial who will be out with a groin injury for 10 weeks. Both sides have yet to make any news with transfer window signings.

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

FA Cup - Onto the Sweet 16

8 Premier League Advancers

• Bournemouth 5-0 Swansea (Championship)

• Tottenham 0-1 Man City

• Everton 1-2 Luton Town

• Sheffield United 2-5 BHA

• Fulham 0-2 Newcastle

• West Brom 0-2 Wolves

• Liverpool 5-2 Norwich (Championship)

• Newport (Level 4/League 2) 2-4 Man United

2 Championship League Advancers

• Leicester 3-0 Birmingham

• Blackburn (Championship) 4-1 Wrexham (Level 4/League 2)

5 REPLAYS - These matches will be played again at the team on the right below.

• Forest 0-0 Bristol City

• Chelsea 0-0 Villa

• Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Coventry

• Leeds 1-1 Plymouth

• Watford 1-1 Southampton

1 EPIC Upset

• Ipswich (Championship) 1-2 Maidstone United (Level 6!) - See Above

Here’s the Draw results for the next match.

• Blackburn v Newcastle

• Chelsea/Villa v Leeds/Plymouth

• Bournemouth v Leicester City

• Liverpool v Watford/Southampton

• Bristol City/Forest v Man United

• Wolves v Brighton

• Sheffield Wednesday/Coventry City v Maidstone United

• Luton Town v Man City

Off Island 🏝️

Bundesliga - Germany

• Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga 32 times, second most is Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach, each with 5. Bayern has won 11 straight.

• This season's team includes Harry Kane (having a great season) and is coached by former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel (not having a great season by Munich standards).

• Bayern currently sit second in the table behind Bayern Leverkusen, 49 points to 47.

• Leverkusen have not lost all season in any competition, and here is an example why (25s X). What a goal.

• Leverkusen host Munich on Saturday, February 10 at 1130am ESPN+.

• In Case You Were Interested - Bayern is German for Bavaria, it’s one of 16 states in Germany.

Best Bets 💰

CleanSheet Picker Standings

Let CS know if you would like to be a Guest Picker.

CleanSheet Season Gains/Losses: Starting Balance $1000. Current Standing $1,171.

Wolves to Win v Man United +170. $20.

Villa to Win v Newcastle -110. $40.

Villa Newcastle O3.5 +130. $20.

Villa to Win v Newcastle & O3 +255. $20.

Luton Town to Win v BHA +380. $20.

West Ham to Win v Bournemouth +135. $20.