Match Week 7 Preview

EPL Match Week 7 Preview

CS spent some time in Nashville last week and swung past JBJ - John Bon Jovi’s place on Broadway which recently opened which brought back memories of 80’s Hair Bands. Aside from Bon Jovi, others came to mind - van Halen, Def Leppard, Tesla. Another band you probably haven’t heard of if you didn’t grow up in the 80’s inspired the Hot Topic🔥🔥 section this week. Check it out.

In Today’s CleanSheet:

• Headlines 📌

• Current Situation📈📉

• Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥- A New Era

• Off Island 🏝️ - Champions & Europa League

• Best Bets 💰

Headlines 📌

• CS Match of the Week. Aston Villa +135 v Man United +190 SUN 8a - All eyes on United as the ten Hag tenure is in turmoil. A draw at Porto mid-week after being up 2-0 does not help. Villa have been playing great, especially at Villa Park, where they had their first top level Eruopean home win in 41 years over Bayern Munich mid-week. Feels like United is backed into a corner, will they fight or fold? United have won just once over their last five. Expect a high energy, intense match.

• 7.3 Weekend. 7 Saturday, 3 Sunday.

• Jhon Duran. The 20-year-old Colombian plays for Aston Villa and has had quite the start to the season - six goal, five of them winners, in fewer than 300 minutes. As a 17-year-old Duran was playing for Envigado in Colombia, a club known for their academy. Sebastian Pelzer, a Chicago Fire (MLS) Technical Director, found him when scouting another player and the race was on to sign him, which the Fire did for $1.5M in 2021 making him the youngest MLS signing in history. Duran could not move until he turned 18. In January of 2023, Villa manager Unai Emery made Duran his second signing for $20M. Here is more on the story from BBC Sport.

• Forest Misconduct. Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was charged with misconduct by the English Football Association for his conduct around the grounds in Forest’s recent home loss to FFC. He has been known to make his opinion known at matches and with the FA.

• Red Card Overturned. In the MW6 Recap of the CS, we discussed the questionable red card on Bruno Fernandes for Man United and how it impacted the match. Well, that red card was appealed and Bruno will not have to sit out the next 2 matches. But, playing with 10-men for the full 2H against Spurs did impact the outcome and there is nothing that can now be done about the lost 3 points.

  • From last CS - Captain Fernandes. Take a look at this red card at 42’. Was the boot high? Yes. Was there contact, yes. By the rule, red card. But - this was a “soft” red card. If you look at it in replay there was no intent, contact was minimal. Maybe pick that one up.

• International Break. MW8 will be the weekend of October 19. The next two weeks players will be joining their National Teams for qualifiers and friendlies.

• EUFA MAFIA. Another club makes their thoughts known about the reforms EUFA made to the Champions League structure. For more on the Champions League results this week - check out Off Island 🌴🌴.

What 2 Look 4 👀- Match Week 7

“Solid” Home Favorites 🏘️🏘️🏘️🏘️

• Man City -400 v Fulham +1000 SAT 9a - Surprisingly a Top 6 matchup yet the biggest spread on the board. City has not been dominant so far, really good - yes, dominant no. We also don’t really know how they are going to replace Rodri. Was a nice 4-0 mid-week win at Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. Fulham have looked really good so far compared to expectations, scoring in all but their first match at United. We will learn a lot more about the Cottagers this weekend.

• Arsenal -360 v Southampton +1000 MON 2p - On paper this is a major mismatch. No losses for the Gunners, no wins for Southampton. Arsenal had a nice win at home over a solid PSG side in the CL. Will be interesting to see how they handle the injuries they continue to have. The Saints spent the week wondering if gaffer Russell Martin is the guy for the job and if he is using the players in the right style.

• Chelsea -210 v Forest +525 SUN 8a - Offense versus defense. In 6 matches, Forest have scored just 6 goals and allowed 5. Yet, good enough for 10th in the table and only 1 loss. Chelsea on the other hand have scored 15 goals while allowing 7, and those 15 goals came in the last 5 matches.

• West Ham -110 v Ipswich Town +300 SAT 9a - Have the Hammer’s started to gel with the new manager and all the new players? Not yet. The Tractor Boys have had 4 straight draws and look like a PL team to date, and they seem to travel well. The Hammers need to start scoring goals with the talent they have but Ipswich will make that tough.

Home Dogs 🌭🌭🌭🌭

• Palace +400 v Liverpool -150 SAT 630a - Palace finished last season under Oliver Glasner as one of best playing teams in the league. That has not been the case to start this season with 0W 3D 3L. Liverpool on the other hand have had a great start allowing just 2 goals in 6, 5W 1L. Palace will hope to use the Selhurst Park crowd to find some of that magic from last season to get their first win.

• Everton +210 v Newcastle +125 SAT 1130a - Have the Toffee’s turned the corner? Are the Magpies the team that lost at Fulham or the one that drew with City? Newcastle seem to struggle on the road while Everton have started getting some attacking pieces back. Should be an interesting.

• Leicester City +200 v Bournemouth +135 SAT 9a - The Foxes defense has been suspect allowing 2 goals per match so far. Fortunately for them they have also scored in every match this season. The Cherries have been a little all or nothing. Scoring 6 goals in 2 matches but then just 2 in the other 4.

• BHA +190 v Tottenham +120 SUN 1030a - The road and finishing have been the declared hurdles for Spurs to overcome. It seems they may be figuring it out scoring 3 goals in each of their last 3 matches, the last at Old Trafford. BHA have cooled after their solid start winning only 1 in their last 5. Will be a very interesting match between two top 10 sides.

“Slight” Home Favorites 🛖🛖

• Aston Villa +135 v Man United +190 SUN 8a - See Above.

• Brentford +100 v Wolves +250 SAT 9a - Can the Bee’s score in the first minute for a fourth consecutive match? Even if they do, they haven’t taken advantage taking only 1 point in those three matches. Wolves need a complete performance from beginning to end. The only good news on the season so far for Wolves is they have played by far the toughest schedule of any other team - 5 of the top 7 teams and the 10th place team.

Current Situation 📈📉

Hot Topic 🔥🔥🔥

USMNT - A New Era

It all starts next week as the USMNT enters their first International Break under Mauricio Pochettino.

Below is the announced roster & the Clubs they play for.

Initial reaction: GREAT options at Forward, GOOD options in the midfield, and lots to figure out on the defensive end, especially Goalkeeper.

Off Island 🏝️

Champions League Results

Good CL MW2 for the EPL and some big surprises.

EPL Team Results

• 41 Years. Villa Park hosted the first top level European competition in 41 years and the team did not disappoint, a 1-0 Win over Bayern Munich.

  • Look at this brilliant strike from Jhon Duran for Villa’s goal. Duran has been on a tear scoring off the bench. In 6 PL matches Duran has come off the bench and scored in 4 of them, and now he has done it in the CL.

  • In the final minutes Emi Martinez came up big saving a header by Harry Kane to take all three points.

  • Unai Emery has now beaten Bayern Munich with three teams - Villa, PSG and Villarreal. Only one other manager has ever beaten Bayern with three different teams - Jose Mourinho.

• Liverpool 2-0 Bologna. Salah with an Assist and Goal and Liverpool have 2 wins in 2 matches.

• City 4-0 Slovan Bratislava. Not close. 2 goals in the 1H, 2 in the 2H from four different players.

• Arsenal 2-0 PSG. Statement win for the Gunners with Havertz and Saka scoring in the 1H.

Surprises

Here is a reminder of the “rankings” for all 36 teams who qualified for the CL - gives some perspective on the level of upsets this week.

• 24 seed over the 3 seed. Lille 1-0 Real Madrid. The France side from the North ended RMs 36 match unbeaten streak.

• 31 seed over the 2 seed. Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich.

• 36 seed over 23 seed. Brest 4-0 Salzburg in Salzberg.

• In a shocking lobsided result, Benfica beat Atletico Madrid 4-0. Benfica manager Bruno Lage, former Wolves manager, is making an impact in Lisbon.

• While not an underdog, Juventus went down 1-2 at Red Bull Leipzig AND got a red card so were down to 10-men. No problem, 2 2H goals with 10-men Juve shocked the home fans in Leipzig.

Here are the current standings after 2 matches. United has some work to do.

Europa League

• United blew a 2-0 lead at Porto and needed a Harry Maguire goal at 90+1’ to draw 3-3. Bruno Fernandes, who had his red card overturned from last weekend figured he might as make get one at the 81’ of the EL match.

• Spurs went to Ferencvaros (Budapest) and got all three points winning 2-1.

Best Bets 💰

Match Week 7 - Winners Only Please

Arsenal to win -360 v Southampton. $360

Going back to the well and laying the big lumber again this week. This number has moved a lot and CS locked it in Wednesday am.

Chelsea to win -208 v Forest. $104

Don’t overthink it. Chelsea is on a roll and scoring lots of goals and they get to run at the Bridge again. Forst has had a great start

Ipswich Town to win +300 at West Ham. $20

4 Draws in their last 4. So, another draw, right? Nope, Tractor Boys get their first W of the season paying +300.

Aston Villa to Win +135 at Man United. $20

Villa is just playing better and getting “+” odds at home is hard to pass up. Add to that United usually gets a “biggest fan base in the world boost” and we will take the home team.

Liverpool to Win -150 at Palace. $30

Palace are struggling, not sure they can handle the balance Liverpool will bring. Will be tough for the Eagles to score, and the Reds should be able to get 2+.