In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• What 2 Look 4 👀 

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- Geography Lesson 🌍🌎

• Off Island 🏝️ - Viva Lost Wages

• Best Bets 💰

It’s Super Bowl weekend, and the CS makes a prediction below in Off Island🏝️, but let’s not forget there is another big event going on this weekend - the Waste Management Open tee’s it up in Scottsdale, AZ. If you haven’t yet, give @ShooterMcGavin a follow-on X.

Headlines 📌

• Pencil This One In. Luton Town v Sheffield United +360 (Sat 9am Peacock) - What may have been originally billed as a key match to avoid relegation has turned into a key match for The Hatters, as The Blades are all but relegated. Luton Town sit just above relegation but have been playing way better than that getting 11 points in their last 6 matches, more points than SU have in 23. Luton Town can really put the heat on Everton with a win and still a game in hand. If nothing else, check out the camera angle from the broadcast.

• 7. 2. 1. Weekend. 7 Saturday, 2 Sunday, 1 Monday.

• Sack Race. Been a lot of talk about the next manager to go. While there is still quite a way to go in the season, that means there is enough time remaining for a new manager to make a difference. Here are the current odds for the next manager to be sacked, or leave:

  • Roy Hodgson, Palace 2/5

  • Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea 11/4

  • Vincent Kompany, Burnley 16/1

  • Erik ten Hag, Man United 16/1

  • Interestingly, Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool is 25/1 meaning for that to happen NO manager would leave their club the rest of the season as Klopp announced his retirement to be effective the last match of the season.

• Blue Card. 🟦Looks like rules are going to get more complicated, as a Blue Card will be added between a Yellow and Red, and will include a 10’ penalty in the “sin-bin” for “cynical fouls” or “dissent”. The main objective is to reduce on-field altercations between player/player and player/referee. Looks like the trials could be in next year's FA Cup. Initial reaction is - WTF, it’s not needed. From The Guardian.

• Matt Turner. USMNT GK with a big save (x) during PKs to help Forest advance to the Sweet 16 of the FA Cup.

  • Sound On. (X)

  • Angle 2. (X)

• Lost (in the) Tree’s. Several players have now returned to their PL clubs after their AFCON and AFC tournaments. Who is still missing? Forest (4), BHA (1). Fulham (1), and Brentford (1) will still be missing players.

  • Africa Finals: Nigeria v Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast was a favorite, Nigeria an underdog.

    • Ivory Coast PL Players: Forest (Aurier, Boly, Sangare), BHA (Adingra)

    • Nigeria PL Players: Fulham (Bassey, Iwobi), Forest (Aina), Brentford (Onyeka)

  • Asia Finals: Jordan v Qatar. Both teams were underdogs.

    • Jordan PL Players: 0

    • Qatar PL Players: 0

• EURO 2024. Reminder (wiki), this is a tournament of all the European National Teams, like the World Cup. Considered the best tournament since most teams in the top 10 in the world rankings are in Europe. Initial CS rooting interest, Scotland, as officials have ruled fans will be allowed to bring their bagpipes into the stadium.

  • The Tartan Army (wiki) will be happy, the Fans of the Scotland National Team has won awards for their friendly behavior and charitable work as well as been reprimanded for expressing their opinion of England and “God Save the Queen”.

  • Headline to grab your attention. “Scotland fans snub Foreign Office German beer strength advice ahead of Euro 2024.”

    • “Warning, beer in Germany can be stronger than in the UK. UK averages 4.4 ABV, Germany 4.7-5.4. Fans that turn up legless may be banned from matches.”

    • The response paraphrased: It is estimated 100,000 Scotts plan to travel to experience the tournament…..the vast majority will keep a sense of perspective, and any overindulgence will be done after we beat Germany and qualify for the knockout round for the first time."

  • Euro’s kick off June 14, 2024 across Germany.

  • Something to look forward to (YouTube 90s), Flower of Scotland, take a listen.

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 24

Organized by Geography - Check out the Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥 for a quick EFL Geography Lesson.

London Calling - Games in London

• Fulham v Bournemouth+185 (Sat) - Both clubs with 5 points in their last 5. Winner would be 12^th in the table, loser would at worst be 14^th. Both solidly average.

• Palace v Chelsea -115 (Mon) - Both sides need a win as fan bases and ownership are frustrated with results versus expectations. Roy Hodgson, who will retire at the end of the year with Palace may not make it that far if they get any closer to relegation. Chelsea’s owner of 21 months, Todd Boehly, has already sacked 3 managers and just came out saying Pochettino was safe. Is that a good thing? It does help Chelsea beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup mid week.

• Tottenham v BHA +280 (Sat) - Spurs have not lost at home this season, Seagulls have lost 5 of 11 on the road. BHA have the most draws, 8, then any other PL team. Next most is 6. Both have 8 points in their last 5 matches.

• West Ham v Arsenal 1180 (Sun) - Can the Gunners get back up for cross-London rival Hammers after playing their best match of the season, in front of their best crowd environment of the season in their win over Liverpool? Hammers have stumbled out of the mini-January break with a couple winnable draws and a sound defeat.

Games in Northwest England

• Liverpool v Burnley +1600 (Sat) - Burnley need points, but heading South to Liverpool is not a great place to go looking for them. The Reds will be looking to get back on track after getting ambushed in London at the hands of the Gunners. For Liverpool to win the league, these are must win matches.

• Man City v Everton +1100 (Sat) - Everton need points, but heading East to Manchester is not a great place to go looking for them. City have quietly won 5 in a row, gotten Kevin DB and Haaland back, and seem like they have yet to play above 90% of their capability. Feels like City is nearing the end of preseason, tinkering with line ups, and gearing up for the slog that is the Champions League and Premier League overlap.

Games in West Midlands

• Villa v Man United +230 (Sat) - A draw at Everton, a loss at home to Newcastle, a thumping of Sheffield United and a loss home to Chelsea. Not what you expect from a team pushing for a title. Meanwhile, MU keep collecting points and confusing their fans on how good they are or could be. And of late, that has been pretty good. If United can find the back of the net, they are tough to beat. Villa is scoring close to a goal more a game than United, and until lately most of the goals have been at home.

• Wolverhampton v Brentford +220 (Sat) - Swapped positions in a year. Brentford has been hovering around top 10 the last couple years, but the struggle is real this year as there are rumblings of relegation. Wolves are now at 10 in the table and playing like they want to make a run at top 6, just 6 points back.

1 Game in the East Midlands

• Forest v Newcastle +100 (Tue) - Newcastle have just 2 wins and 1 draw in their last 10. Surprisingly, over the last two matches they won AT Villa nad drew at HOME to Luton Town. This is a tough team to figure out and the pressure is on manager Eddie Howe. Forest had a nice couple wins after their managerial move to Nuno, but over the last three is just been 1 point. Typically great at home, the Tree’s have only 3 wins and 3 draws in 11. Three points is the goal for Forest as they are just 2 points above relegation.

1 Game in Bedforshire - basically a far-out London Suburb to the NW

• Luton Town v Sheffield United +360 (Sat) - See Above.

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

Geography Lesson 🌍🌎

There are currently 13 non-London Clubs in the PL, all in England.

There are currently 7 London Clubs in the PL.

Interestingly, of the 72 Clubs currently in the top 4 Leagues of “English Football” (EFL), 68 are from England and 4 are from Wales. These Welsh teams were formed before there was a Welsh Football League, so those clubs were grandfathered into the EFL. (Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County, & Wrexham). Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Leagues, and no teams are allowed into the EFL.

Here are the teams currently in the EFL (Top 4 Leagues). For a better view, check out the details at the CleanSheet website. 65 clubs have been in the top league, currently the PL, in English Soccer.

Speaking of the EFL - Here’s the updated Draw results for the Sweet 16 of the FA Cup.

• Blackburn v Newcastle

• Chelsea v Leeds

• Bournemouth v Leicester City

• Liverpool v Southampton

• Forest v Man United

• Wolves v Brighton

• Coventry City v Maidstone United

• Luton Town v Man City

Off Island 🏝️

Viva Lost Wages

CS Super Bowl Prediction

• 24-23 Chiefs

• Purdy Under 248.5 yards passing. -115

• Over 2.5 Turnovers. +130

• Over 4.5 FGs +220

• Drinking game: Take a drink the number of times you hear the name Taylor Swift and slam a beer the number of times you see her. That way you can miss 3 quarters of the game.

~150M people watched the Chiefs beat the Eagles in last year’s Super Bowl. Expect that number to see an increase as the 49^ers play the Chiefs in Vegas. This includes ~115M viewers in the US and ~35M outside the US.

~450M viewers watched Man City beat Inter Milan in last year’s Champions League final (wiki). Reminder on the where the champions League fits into the EPL at the Clean Sheet Website. 

Here is an interesting worldwide comparison….based on piecing together an internet search…..

• Bejing Olympics Opening Ceremony, 1B+

• Cricket World Cup Final, 1B

• FIFA World Cup Final, 715M

• FA Cup Final, 480M

Best Bets 💰

Need Some Guest Picker’s. Send CS an email if you are interested!

CleanSheet Season Gains/Losses: Starting Balance $1000. Current Standing $1,230.

Burnley to Score First & Liverpool to Win +500. $20.

Liverpool to Win v Burnley & O2.5. -278. $110

Fulham to Win v Bournemouth +135. $20.

Luton Town to Win v Sheffield United -135. $27.

Tottenham to Win v BHA-120. $24.

Richarlson to Score +107. $20.

Richarlson to Score First +420. $10.

West Ham to Win v Arsenal +450. $10

West Ham to Draw v Arsenal +320. $10

Palace to Win v Chelsea +300. $10.

Palace to Draw v Chelsea +260. $10.