Premier League Mornings Live in DC!

A very good morning, chaps! NBC Sports are live in Washington, DC this morning and I believe that Gooner is there with them. The rest of us will be watching the festivities at home. It all starts with West Ham v. ManYoo, with a cloud swirling around Jose and Pogpants. Then we've got the 10am fixtures including Man City v. Brighton on NBC Sports. Finally, it's the big one, Chelsea v. Liverpool from the Bridge. Join me for all the fun!

A Yorkshire Derby to Start the Weekend!

Happy Friday, everyone! Is there a better way to start the weekend fun than a cracking Yorkshire Derby between two old enemies? I'm here at work and will be dialing up the ESPN+ link in about half an hour. Last time up, we got handed out first loss by an improbably vanquisher, Birmingham City. Bielsa and the boys need to bounce back from that unexpected defeat with a solid win today. Come on, you Leeds boys. MOT!

League Cup Third Round Tuesday

A very good Tuesday afternoon to all of you out there in the LOB orbit. It's League Cup time...well, at least for some. Alas, my beloved Leeds United were knocked out by bloody PNE in the last round, so they'll be playing Boro instead this week. The highlight of the day's fixtures is surely Frankie Lampard's clash against his old boss Jose Mourinho when Derby come to Old Trafford. Unfortunately, I'll be marooned in a tedious meeting for much of the afternoon, so I'll be in and out. But I thought I'd start this thread for those of you who are less encumbered this afternoon. Cheers!

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 6 Update

Hiya, chaps - With Arsenal's 2-0 win over Everton at the Emirates yesterday, Week 6 of the domestic season came to a close. I have to admit that it was a bit underwhelming. Most of the big clubs ran out to predictable, big wins. The struggling clubs continue to struggle. The major change then is at the top of the Premier League, where Liverpool are on top again after Chelsea's faltering draw against West Ham. With the Hammers having escaped the drop zone, Newcastle are back in the muck. In the Championship, my beloved Leeds are still on top, despite their first loss of the year against Birmingham. In Europe, Barca, Bayern and Juve are predictably still top of their respective leagues. And Eden Hazard continues to be the top goalscorer, albeit alongside Fulham bad boy Aleksandar Mitrovic.

All of that means - guess who's on top of the pops again! Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 41 points
2. West Ham Rising - 31 pts
3. Gooner71 - 30 pts
4. Swansong - 27 pts
5. The Bee's Knees - 25 pts
6. MOT the Hoople - 23 pts
-  The Saint - 23 pts
-  Yellows - 23 pts
9. Man Utd Rules - 22 pts
-  Red Devil 1FCK - 22 pts
-  Someone Said - 22 pts
12. United We Stand - 20 pts
13. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 18 pts
14. Red Dragon - 16 pts

The Sunday Crunch

Welcome to Sunday, chaps. Yesterday, let's be honest, was a bit of a disappointment, with most of the big clubs getting predictable wins, United getting a draw and Leeds getting turned over by Gary Monk's woeful Birmingham side. Let's hope today brings us something a bit better. The match-ups certainly are intriguing with several sides feeling the crunch. First up, is relegation threatened West Ham against title-chasing Chelsea. Then later on, we've got Marco Silva's under-pressure Everton against Unai Emery's under-pressure Arsenal. Join me for all the crunchiness.

Saturday, Saturday, Saturday...is Football Day!

Morning, chaps. I'm starting this thread in the wee hours so that I can enjoy a nice lie-in during the first match. Fulham v. Watford just doesn't seem that inspiring so I'm going to opt for 40 more winks. That's followed by the 10am kickoffs, including Liverpool v. Southampton on the NBC Sports. I'll have my eye on Leeds v. Birmingham on the Guardian site. Then I'll have to head over to a Fredonia Open House at noonish. So, it'll be a short morning, but join me at any time. Cheers!

Bielsa Rhapsody!

It's Friday afternoon and I'm getting a bit punchy round the office. Fellow Lancer has just shared the attached YouTube clip with a group of Leeds fans bellowing out their tribute to Marcelo Bielsa, already an Elland Road legend, to the tune of "Bohemian Rhapsody" (natch!). Enjoy it here:

https://www.facebook.com/SPORTbible/videos/343553056216113/UzpfSTExOTcyOTU0NzQ6MTAyMTc4MjI3Mzk1Nzg5ODY/?notif_id=1537560161693946&notif_t=mention

The Champions League Begins!

A very good Tuesday afternoon to all of you in LOB Land. The Champions League group stage begins this afternoon with a couple of real crackers. In a few minutes, Barca kick off against PSV and Inter against Spurs. Later in the afternoon, the marquee match of the afternoon - Liverpool v. PSG - will grace the stage.

In addition, we've got a full slate of Championship matches on, including Leeds hosting Preston North End. When we met with them in the League Cup at the beginning of the month, they did us over. I'm hoping that the first team can redress the grievance.

Unfortunately, I'll be observing a colleague's class this afternoon, so I'll miss the first half. Join me if you're able to.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 5 Update

Hiya, boys - domestic footie resumed its regular schedule after a long two weeks off for Nation's League nonsense and I'm back in order to update us all on our PPP game. It was all change this week. Man Utd ended Watford's improbable winning streak, leaving only Chelsea and Liverpool at the top with perfect records. The Blues have edged out the Reds on goal difference now after an Eden Hazard - now top scorer - goal spree. Bournemouth and Watford are still cluttering up the top six, which means a lot of points lost for all of us. At the bottom, West Ham's win over Everton meant that they lifted themselves off the bottom, dumping Huddersfield back into the drop zone. In the Championship, my beloved Leeds are still on top, despite a second draw on the trot, just edging out Brentford and Boro.

All of that means that there is a new Dahlgren on top of the pops. Here are the current standings:

1. Gooner71 - 30 points
2. Man Utd Rules - 25 pts
3. Swansong - 24 pts
4. West Ham Rising - 22 pts
-  Red Dragon - 22 pts
-  The Saint - 22 pts
-  United We Stand - 22 pts
8. Bee's Knees - 20 pts
-  Blue Devil - 20 pts
-  MOT the Hoople - 20 pts
11. Red Devil 1FCK - 19 pts
12. What's Up Wheaton Simon - 17 pts
13. Someone Said - 15 pts
-  Yellows - 15 pts

(Not So) Super Sunday

I can't say that I'm that ensued about this morning's offerings, as all of the big sides played yesterday. So, today we've got newly-promoted Championship winner Wolves, who've had a good start to the season, against boring Burnley. Later, it's disappointing Everton against train wreck West Ham. Could  have been a morning to get some Sunday chores done, but I'll be here nonetheless. Join me?

Premiership Football is Back!

Phew! That was an especially interminable international break. Fortunately, we're back with a bang this morning, and I can't wait. First up is Spurs and Liverpool. It doesn't get better than that, does it? Then we've got the 10am kickoffs, including Citeh on NBC Sports and Chelski on CNBC. In the Championship, Leeds make a trip to the Evil Den to meet Evil Millwall. We finish then with unbeaten Watford against Man United. So get yourself some brekkies and pull up a chair, eh?

UEFA Nation's League Round-up

With this afternoon's fixtures, including the crushing 5-0 defeat of Croatia by Spain, the Nation's League creaked to the end of Day 2 of play. So, what do we make of all this, Not a lot, to my mind. The League A matches, with the exception of England's thrilling 1-2 (should have been 2-2) match with Spain on Saturday, they were uniformly dull. Germany v. France - a goalless draw. Italy v. Poland - a drab 1-1 draw. Portugal v. Italy - a really boring 1-niller. The League B matches were a bit more fun and free scoring but who really cares whether Turkey pulled out a 2-3 win over the Swedes? In any case, here are the current standings for the League A groups:

Group 1

France - 4 points from 2 matches
Germany 1 point from 1 match
Netherlands - 0 points from 1 match

Group 2

Switzerland  - 3 points from 1 match
Belgium - 3 points from 1 match
Iceland - 0 points from 2 matches

Group 3

Portugal - 3 points from 1 match
Poland - 1 point from 1 match
Italy - 1 point from 2 matches

Group 4

Spain - 6 points from 2 matches
England - 0 points from 1 match
Croatia - 0 points from 1 match

England Begin their Nation's League Campaign

Who's ready for some Nation's League action, chaps? Let's hope our England boys. They start their campaign against European powerhouse Spain this evening at Wemberley. I've had the first lie in for a month or so, so I'm well rested and ready to enjoy some footie today. There are also some undercard matches on at noon. And if that isn't enough for you, there is an enticing US friendly with Brazil tonight at 6:30.

The Nation's League action is on our new favorite - ESPN+. The US friendly is on Fox Sports. My dear Kate has just left for a couple of weeks in Virginia, so I hope you'll keep me company on the blog today.

The UEFA Nations League - What the Hell is It?

The UEFA Nations League - it's the footballing elites' latest attempt to confuse and annoy loyal fans. But what the hell is it, anyway? Is it a replacement for European Championship qualifying? Is it a new and superfluous tournament in off-years? Well, LOB stalwart United We Stand came across a video on the Independent of London website that answers some questions. According to the following video, the Nation's League is the attempt to solidify national teams by increasing the competition between them. Each team will be pitted against peers rather than having to play matches against minnows. There are four "Leagues," with the top teams in League A, the second-tier sides in League B and so on. Then within each league, there are four groups of either three or four teams.

England is of course in League A and in the fourth group, alongside Spain Croatia. Their upcoming fixtures are:

Saturday, September 8 - England v. Spain
Friday, October 12 - Croatia v. England
Monday, October 15 - Spain v. England
Sunday, November 18 - England v. Croatia

From there, each top team will be thrown into semi-finals to be played in June 2019, with a 3/4 place game and a final to follow.

You can find the video here: https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/uefa-nations-league-what-is-it-how-does-it-work-when-will-it-start-what-group-england-a8449986.html

And fortunately, the matches appear to be covered on ESPN+, making my $4.99/month investment even better value.

Premiership Plus Predictions Game - Week 4 Update

Happy Labor Day, everyone! I'm here as usual to update our standings for the PPP, as we head into the first interminable international break of the season. As it stands, there are three Premier League sides with perfect records - Liverpool on top, followed improbably by Watford and then Chelsea. At the bottom, Newcastle have replaced Huddersfield in the drop zone, so several of us have lost points there. In the Championship, my beloved Leeds are still top, albeit on goal difference over Boro, after our goalless draw on Friday. Sheffield United, Derby, Brentford and Bristol City make up the other promotion hopefuls. Barca, Bayern and Juve sit atop their domestic leagues this weekend, with a couple of games under their belts now. Sadio Mane and Aleksander Mitrovic are on top of the goalscorers' chart with four goals apiece now, so no points there for any of us.

It all means that I've lost 9 points this week but still claim top spot due to my Liverpool pick. That surely won't last but I'll enjoy the perch during the break in play. We'll be around next weekend, blogging the Nation's Cup matches (whatever on earth that is!), so do join in.

Here are the current standings:

1. Blue Devil - 32 points
2. Gooner71 - 26 pts
3. Swansong - 21 pts
4. Man Utd Rules - 19 pts
-  Someone Said - 19 pts
6. Red Dragon - 18 pts
-  West Ham Rising - 18 pts
8. The Bee's Knees - 17 pts
-  MOT the Hoople - 17 pts
-  The Saint - 17 pts
11. Yellows - 15 pts
12. United We Stand - 14 pts
13. Red Devil 1FCK - 13 pts
-  What's Up Wheaton Simon - 13 pts

Sunday Morning Football as we Head Into the International Break

It's a triple header of sorts as we head into the International Break. It starts with newly promoted Cardiff City , who have yet to score a goal vs the Gunners. The late ones are Burnley vs United where both teams have made a surprisingly poor start. The one not being televised is is the Hornets vs the Spuds where the winner could be top of the table headed into the break. Join me for all the action.

An Intriguing Saturday Morning

Morning, chaps - we've got a rather intriguing morning ahead of us. It all starts with a Liverpool road trip to Leicester. Then at 10am, we've got the usual slate of Premiership and Championship fixtures, including Chelsea hosting Bournemouth on NBC Sports. At the end of the day, we've got Man City taking on Newcastle. Join me for all the fun and games, won't you?