Two thirds of the way through the holiday fixture list and things can't have gone better for Newcastle.

A Good Walk Spoiled

Even the more damning pictures
leave doubt as to whether this is red

Newcastle - Aston Villa was supposed to be one of the better Boxing Day matchups.  The Magpies got a quick goal and maybe had the better of play but it was generally shaping up as an interesting contest.  Then Jhon Duran got sent off for "violent conduct" in the 30th minute and you could hear all that anticipation go up in smoke. You can see the play here.  I guess it boils down to whether you think Duran had a chance to have the right foot land somewhere other than Schar's back.  I thought he slipped and was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt - yellow card at worst.  Plenty of comments on the internet supporting that view.  Others were less charitable, including referee Anthony Taylor, VAR Graham Scott, and the FA, who denied Villa's appeal to have the three-match ban rescinded.

That was pretty much it for the match.  Though it took a while for Newcastle to add a second goal, the action was largely one sided.  Villa managed just four shots and only one on target.  At about 60 minutes with the score 2-0, Dennis and I put the game on our phones and switched to the Nottingham Forest - Spurs match.  The final was 3-0.

Paired with the 4-0 win over Ipswich on Saturday, Newcastle already have six points in the stocking as they head to face Man United on Monday.  The win featured a hat trick from Isak plus a goal and an assist from an in-form Jacob Murphy.  

I Got Your Goodwill to Men Right Here

Though we knew that Newcastle's assistant manager Jason Tindall had been redcarded at half time we didn't have the details.  Turned out there was a bit of scrum on the way to the lockers at halftime.  Details are still murky; story is here.  Villa saw one of their bench coaches ejected as well.  Tempers were certainly flaring with Newcastle thinking Duran had "stamped on" Schar and Villa thinking they had been screwed by the referees.  Guess they forgot it was Christmas.

Golazos in the Mist

Oh the weather outside was frightful

Boxing Day weather in the Midlands featured heavy fog and mist.  Man City - Everton, Nottingham Forest - Tottenham, Wolves - Man United and Liverpool - Leicester were all played in varying levels of limited visibility.  Generally, this seemed to favor the underdogs as Everton got a draw while Forest and Wolves both got wins.  The weather could not help Leicester.

Last Weekend

Already fading from memory but I do remember that my confidence in Aston Villa was validated with their 2-1 win over Man City.  We make Villa's opening goal, a great piece of work between Tielemans, Rogers and Duran this week's YouTubeableMoment.  The feature match was a bomb as Liverpool ran all over Tottenham in a 6-3 drubbing.  And Bournemouth stunned Man United 3-0 at Old Trafford.

In other news, Michael B announced he no longer follows the EPL and Jeff H is taking bids for a new team (I hear Nottingham Forest and Fulham are getting close looks).

Claritin Blue?

Mackenzie was having a bit of trouble with the thick English accents of the announcers on Thursday.  First, she was convinced that Man City's midfielder was Banana Silva.  Then, she asked if Aston Villa's color was Claritin Blue.  What do they say?  Something like the US and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.  Technically, as Coach Beard has pointed out, they are five countries separated by a common language.

God Bless Me, Everyone

Best Christmas episode ever?

Speaking of Ted Lasso, a Christmas tradition here at 6911 is watching Season 2, Episode 4, "The Carol of the Bells."  Sweet and funny. Certainly draws liberally from other Christmas stuff  (It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, Love Actually).  Favorite part though may be this back and forth between Director of Football Leslie Higgins and Nigerian player Sam Obisanya:

Higgins to Sam: What does Christmas remind you of at home?

Sam: Colonization.

 

Sunday, Monday and Wednesday Then London

The season hits the halfway point with Matchweek 19 spread over Sunday, Monday and Wednesday (I couldn't find out why Brentford - Arsenal isn't on Tuesday).  I'd argue that Aston Villa - Brighton and Man United - Newcastle are the best of the lot and of course they're essentially scheduled right on top of each other at 2:45 and 3:00 pm on Monday.  Fulham - Bournemouth is probably the best choice of the Sunday 10 am fixtures.  The TV guys went with Everton - Nottingham Forest.

Midweek we're off to London for few days of football.  The itinerary says we leave for London New Year's night, arrive Thursday morning and get our bearings.  Then we'll roam around the town on Friday before getting serious.  Saturday is the 12:30 (7:30 here) Spurs - Newcastle match.  Since it's at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium I'll probably have to wear my Newcastle shirt under multiple layers.  Sunday we'll go to Craven Cottage for Fulham - Ipswich (2 pm, 9 am here); we got hospitality tickets there under the condition that we don't wear any Ipswich gear.  We conclude with a Monday evening Championship Division clash at Loftus Road where Queens Park Rangers will host Luton Town.

This was originally going to be the Fab Five from 2016 but Don P had to bow out with complications from Covid so we're down to just the Four Guys from the USA.

With luck I'll post a holiday wrap Thursday morning and a trip recap the following week.

Happy New Year!

Didn't Mean to Be Mean to Ruud

So Newcastle roughed up Ruud van Nistelrooy's Leicester squad, pouring cold water on their new manager bounce but we really needed an easy W like that.  Especially when easy W's seem in short supply right now.

Jacob Murphy's brace could have easily been a hat trick
JAMES GILL – DANEHOUSE/GETTY IMAGES

Newcastle were all over Leicester from the opening whistle but didn't convert until the 30th minute, leaving me fully expecting to see a goal against the run of play.  Not this time, as the Magpies executed a corner play fresh off the training ground, as seen here.  Not that a 1-0 lead at half felt all that great.  Quick second half goals at 47 and 50 minutes pretty much put the thing to bed.  Murphy's second goal at 60 left no doubt.  Certainly on the screen, 4-0 looked about right (actually even a little light given some missed chances) and the stats fully back it up - possession 59-41, shots 27-4, shots on target 11-1 and xG 3.75 - .23.

Not According to Form

Martinez could only do so much to save Aston Villa
Photo:SkySports

On balance, you'd have to say the weekend was full of surprises of varying degrees.  I put Newcastle's rout in that category, though maybe not the biggest.  Liverpool went down a goal, then down a man to Fulham.  Diogo Jota rescued a 2-2 draw for the Reds.  Everton managed no shots on target and just 23% possession but still came away with a 0-0 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates no less.  Man City contined to puzzle as they looked listless for most of the match and eventually surrendered two late goals to fall to Man United in one of the more tepid Manchester derbies in recent memory.  Aston Villa duplicated that feat, allowing Nottingham Forest goals at 87 and 90+3 minutes in a 2-1 loss.  That match featured this incredible save from Emi Martinez.  

We'll include Crystal Palace's 3-1 beat down of Brighton in the non-derby derby in the list of surprises.  I include the Ipswich 2-1 win over Wolves in the group too but Dennis says Wolves are prone to late collapses so it wasn't a shock.  Thanks to Newcastle's strong showing I was able to turn one eye to the last 30 minutes of this match and it was proper relegation six-pointer.  Ipswich got the game winner at 90+4 minutes on this header from Jack Taylor.  

All of these failures to follow form are highly entertaining to the neutrals but not so much to the partisan ending up on the wrong side of the decision.

Late Goals

I counted five matches with goals after 85 minutes that affected the results:

- Liverpool in 86th minute to get a draw with Fulham

- Ipswich in 94th minute to get a win over Wolves

- Forest in 87 and then 93 to get the win over Villa

- Man United in 88 and 90 to get win over City

- West Ham score in 87 but Bournemouth get equalizer in 90th

Fleeting Grab My Ass AKA This Week in Refereeing

Several incidents of note that became talking points this week.  ESPN has a more complete review here.  I'm mostly interested in the non-penalty call against Elliot Anderson for his pullback on Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers. You can see the play here.  The word from the VAR was that Anderson's tug was a "fleeting grab."  Really?  ESPN argues that refs do seem reluctant to make that particular call but it certainly looks like a foul to me and deserved at least a look on the monitor.  I think it's likely that Sam Barrott would have concluded he made a mistake.  However, he would also notice that he missed the shirt pull on Anderson by Rogers; he didn't quite pull it over Rogers' head but it was clear.  Former EPL referee sums up nicely what should have happened:

I think it's a foul [by Rogers on Anderson before he enters the box] and he [Anderson] then grabs hold of him going into the box. I think it's then a penalty but I think the best outcome here in fairness is the VAR to recommend to the referee to go to the monitor so he has all options open. He then would have seen Rogers ripping his [Anderson] shirt right off his back and he can then give a free-kick [to Forest]. You've got the same net result of no penalty but people accept it better because that's actually happened.

Right, don't try to justify the non-call on a clear pull, but don't overlook the shirt pull in the build-up.  Seems much more honest.

I Come to Bury Antony, Not to Praise Him

Et tu Lee Dixon? Antony got a hard
 time from USA announcers

The USA broadcasting crew gave Man United winger Marcus Matheus Antony a pretty hard time on Sunday.  As Antony came onto the pitch in the 78th minute of the Manchester derby, Lee Dixon noted:

He's scored one goal in his last 40 Premier League games.  If you think he's made up for it with assists, you would be wrong.  That is a very round number.

Effing brutal as Dennis points out.  He also notes that this was perhaps not the unkindest cut of all.  During the pre-game discussion about Amiron's interesting line-up choices, one of the Robbie's said:

You wonder what Rashford and Garnacho did to not be on the bench but Antony still is.

Ouch again.  We note that United did get two goals after Antony entered the match but that may be as relevant as the fact that both came right after I went to the bathroom.

Lee Dixon was also vocal about Kyle Walker's flop after contact with Hojland.  Seen here, Dixon is absolutely correct that Walker should be embarrassed and the internet is having a field week with the footage.

BFS Halo Effect?

Last week, we did have a clip of a University of Vermont golazo and noted that UVM was playing in the NCAA semi-final Friday night vs Denver.  The Catamounts leveled that match at 1-1 in the 84th then beat Denver 4-3 in penalty kicks to advance to the final against Marshall.  In the final they again fell behind but equalized in the 81st minute before winning on a golden goal about five minutes into the first overtime period.  The winning goal came from Maximilian Kissel, seen here in this week's YouTubeableMoment; a true thrill of victory agony of defeat scene in the aftermath.  This was UVM's first national soccer title and we note that it comes after we mention them in BFS.  Coincidence?  Totally.  

Holiday Three Pack

As is usual, the schedule makers have contrived to cram three match weeks over the holiday period.  One is this weekend covering Saturday/Sunday, one is the Boxing Day extravaganza that runs Thursday and Friday and the last goes from Sunday to Wednesday.  Surprisingly there are some off days in there, including a very rare footballless Saturday (12/28).

Newcastle's schedule has them at Ipswich on Saturday, home versus Aston Villa on Boxing Day and at Old Trafford on Monday 12/30 to face Man United.  I realize that it is silly to say the expected haul could range from zero to nine points.  But, all three fixtures are tricky yet are also winnable.  We really should beat Ipswich, even at their place.  Villa are tough but we are home.  And Man United are a real enigma.  Zero seems unlikely but three or less could easily happen.

With so many fixtures, I'll just try to suggest what could be highlights, fully cognizant that my track record is not so good.

We would watch anyway but think the 7:30 Saturday matchup between Aston Villa and Man City is one to check out.  For some reason, I'm always more optimistic about Villa's chances in games like this compared to Newcastle.  Sunday's best choice looks like Spurs - Liverpool at 11:30.  As a warmup, you might want to check out a relegation six-pointer at 9 am between Leicester and Wolves.

For Boxing Day, though I'm biased, Newcastle - Aston Villa looks like the best choice.  In fact, we have a beef with the schedulers who chose Bournemouth - Crystal Palace over the BFS derby for the USA game.  It's not even the seconde best choice - Nottingham Forest vs Spurs looks more interesting.  Actually the Thursday/Friday contests are mostly upper table versus lower table affairs.

Slight schedule change next week - we will post on Saturday rather than Friday as the match week doesn't start until Sunday.  Enjoy the holidays - watch football whenever you can. 

Mediocrity It Is

At least for the moment.

By itself, Newcastle's 4-2 loss Brentford at their place isn't a disaster given that the Bees haven't lost at home yet this year.  The Magpies did rally twice from first half deficits to level things.  Expected goals slightly favor Newcastle (1.64 -1.47).  And the last goal was in the 90th minute when Newcastle were working hard to rescue a draw so the margin of the loss is slightly overstated.  

Mbeumo would look good in a Newcastle kit; at least
he wouldn't be scoring against us (Photo Getty Images)

Still, we must conclude that the glass is about 7/8ths empty.  First, while the first half performance (2-2) was acceptable, they went silent offensively in the second half.  Of their 16 shots, only three were on target.  Brentford's xG was just 1.47 so either the Bees were lucky or Newcastle made some defensive mistakes.  Thinking it's the latter.  Bryan Mbeumo (a possible Magpie transfer target in January) ghosted past Hall far too easily on the first goal. The second Brentford goal came from an "own assist" as Harvey Barnes made a perfect back pass to Wissa, who took a few dribbles then made nice finish.  The game winner was a free kick from the Brentford half of the pitch that landed untouched in the Newcastle penalty area before Nathan Collins slotted it past Pope.  You get the picture.  

We are who we thought we were - a team that will struggle to stay in the top half of the table.

Liverpool Fail To Get Points

Darragh: First to not let Liverpool get any points since
Nottingham Forest on 9/14

Of course, it was Storm Darragh, not any EPL side, that gets the credit.  The Merseyside Derby - the last scheduled at historic Goodison Park - was postponed by high winds and rain.  Given the weather we saw at most of the other venues on Saturday, I'm guessing the threshold for postponing due to high winds must be something over 40 mph.  

Many in the chase pack did not take advantage of Liverpool's off day.  Arsenal could manage only a 1-1 draw with Fulham, seeing a potential game winner ruled out for offside in the 88th minute.  Same for Man City, who's woes continued with a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace; they had to rally twice from one goal deficits to get that.  I suppose we should include Brighton's 2-2 draw with Leicester in this group too.

Three sides who did take advantage were Chelsea (4-3 over Spurs), Aston Villa (a decidely mediocre 1-0 win over Southampton, albeit with a rotated lineup) and Nottingham Forest (a bit of a lucky 3-2 victory at Old Trafford).  Not coincidentally, those three sides now sit in the top six.

The Silver Lining Is Getting Really Hard To Find

The only good news for Ipswich this weekend was that the two clubs behind them - Wolves and Southampton - both lost.  I guess Everton not playing was good too.  The dark cloud part is that the Tractor Boys lost another close one at home in a most disturbing way.  They carried a 1-0 lead over Bournemouth late into the match before the Cherries scored in the 87th minute and then again at 90+5 to take all three points.  To make matters worse, the three sides immediately ahead of them in the table all got points.  Leicester and Palace got draws while West Ham got three in a win over Wolves.

Not A Good Sign

When Google text wants to autocorrect your name from Amorim to "a moron."  Ruben Amoron Amirom continues to find life in the EPL not so easy as Man United lost to Forest 2-3 at Old Tratford.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Dennis: How many kits do you have and why is one of them claret?

Steve: Moichandizing. Never underestimate the power of the Schwartz.

Dennis: Newcastle the Breakfast Cereal is just beer, right?

Steve: Nailed it.

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place But Didn't

Dennis:  Did you say that Arteta is a born-again Christian

Steve: No I said he's giving Jesus another chance

Mixed Results in Europe

The quintessential better to be lucky than good:
Barkley's shot took a massive deflection and Villa win 3-2

Aston Villa did not exactly shake the cobwebs out but did manage an important 3-2 win over RB Leipzig in their Champions League match on Tuesday.  Ross Barkley got the game winner but the YouTubeableMoment was the strike from Jhon Duran minutes after he entered the match.  Dennis points out that most players do not score on that play simply because they would never consider taking that shot.  Liverpool got the win but hardly impressed in a 1-0 result over Girona.  Still, this was better than Man City, who lost again, this time 2-0 to Juventus.  Only Arsenal coasted in a 3-0 win over Monaco.  

Liverpool are still top the table with a perfect record and need just one point from the last two group stage matches to get a bye into the knockout round.  Arsenal and Aston Villa are third and fifth respectively and I believe only need one more point to guarantee a spot in the playoffs for a knockout berth; of course they could also still qualify for a bye.  Man City's prospects aren't as rosy. They sit 22nd and have just a one point cushion for a playoff berth.  In other words, they have work to do.

Over in Europa Cup, Spurs had to work their butts off to get a 1-1 draw with Rangers; they are still looking good for a spot in the playoffs for a knockout round berth.  Man United saw their stock rise with a 2-1 come from behind win over Viktoria Plezn (not even sure who she is) and are looking good for advancement to the playoffs as well.  Chelsea cruised to a 3-1 win over Astana in Europa Conference League; they are still top of the table, perfect through five matches.

Wait, so you're telling me that of the seven EPL teams competing in Europe, Man City is the only one in jeopardy of getting bounced out in the group stage?

About Those Two Goal Leads

You know we don't buy that old saw that a two goal lead is the most dangerous in soccer.  The EPL coverage made sure that you knew that Spurs and Brighton both coughed up two goal leads this weekend.  Yeah, but Nottingham Forest and Brentford didn't; okay Brentford didn't get their two goal cushion until the 90th minute but it still counts.  We also note that mid-week, Arsenal and Chelsea both survived that "most dangerous of leads" and that Juventus seemed to have no trouble protecting their two goal margin against Man City.  

ICYMI

The TV ratings suggest that maybe you did.  The LA Galaxy bested NY Red Bulls 2-1 in the MLS Cup Final.  The match was fun for a while, with three goals in 28 minutes.  Tricked me into watching the whole thing.  We note that LA were up 2-0 and did not lose so there's another data point.  Also, you can read about the TV ratings here; in 2022 the figure was 2.16m, 2023 was 890k and 2024 was 468k.  Note that 2022 is not directly comparable with 2023 and 2024 because people may have watched those last two on MLS Season Pass.  We can't know because Apple won't release their viewing numbers.  

College Kids Can Do It Too

BFS Track and Field Guru Jack W sends us this video, showing that golazos are not entirely the province of the pros.  [Post publication note: UVM, featured in this video has made it to the NCAA semi-finals and is playing Friday evening at 5 pm against Denver on ESPN+ or ESPNU - thanks to Nancy F for the heads up.]

But Apparently"Old"Guys Can't

BFS Artistic Director Laura O sends us this video that highlights the downs and downs of Sunday afternoon pickup games.  Not sure which is, uh, "funnier" - the pulled hamstring or the wide open shot that clanks against the post.

Less Frantic

Well, a little bit anyway.  You can do six fixtures live this weekend, thanks to an extra Sunday slot.  Some interesting matchups from various parts of the table.  And no 7:30 Saturday fixture.

There are four choices at 10 am Saturday.  By contract, we have to watch Newcastle - Leicester from Saint James' Park on USA; Opta has the Magpies as big favorites but I'm not buying it.  There's a big relegation six-pointer with Wolves hosting Ipswich.  Your other two choices are Arsenal - Everton or Liverpool -Fulham; with the home field advantage, we don't see Arsenal or Liverpool struggling in either, so of course you should watch them.

Love the 12:30 feature match on NBC between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa.  The two are level on points with Forest having a one goal advantage on goal differential.  We note that those differentials are just +1 and 0 yet they sit fifth and sixth respectively in the table; one might ask how they got that far up the table.  Opta says it's close and that's probably a reflection of Forest being at home; to me it seems like this is a chance for a top six team to expose a pretender.

On Sunday you can warm up for the Manchester derby with Brighton - Crystal Palace at 9.  The derby is at 11:30; Opta has City as a healthy favorite but there's been nothing healthy about their recent form.  Not that Man United have shone either; they're behind Newcastle in the table for crying out loud.  The Sunday bonus at 2 pm has Chelsea - Brentford (USA) or Southampton - Spurs (Peacock).  The week concludes with Bournemouth - West Ham at 3 pm on Sunday.

Fun stuff

Consistently Inconsistent

Originally this was going to be a post about how mediocrity would be a step up for Newcastle.  Then they pulled off the unlikely draw with Liverpool.  Better to complain about inconsistency than mediocrity I guess.  Plus, I have lots of company - looking at you Aston Villa and Spurs fans.

.02 Expected Goals?

In Saturday's match with Crystal Palace, Newcastle set a new low for offensive irrelevance.  They managed one shot, not on target and registered an xG of .02.     You have to work really hard to do that badly.  The funny thing was that the Magpies carried a 1-0 lead late into stoppage time thanks to a Palace own goal.  On the one hand, it was frustrating to lose the points on a late goal but on the other, even one point from that showing was grand larceny.  Palace at Selhurst Park is never a piece of cake but this was ridiculous.

Schar just barely gets to the equalizer

So we went into Wednesday's match against a decidedly in-form Liverpool with zero expectations.  What a shock to see them go toe-to-toe with the league leader.  Isak's opening goal (a screamer seen here) was certainly not against the run of play.  The contest went back and forth from there, with Liverpool leveling at 1-1, Newcastle scoring to make in 2-1 and Salah scoring two to put Liverpool up 3-2.  This looked like the reverse of Saturday - no points for a good effort.  They rescued a point on a free kick into the box by Guimaraes that Fabian Schar somehow reached before it went over the end line and slipped into the goal.  An easy choice for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  I saw several references to this match as the best game of the year.  Sometimes it's okay if it's your team involved in a great game for the neutral.

WDWWLDDLLWWLDD

No, that's not Welsh for "hello" but rather Newcastle's form over the season's first 14 matches.  They don't have a website anymore because they can't put three w's together.  As the euphoria of Wednesday's draw wears off, we awake to the reality that this is a wildly inconsistent team sitting 12th in the table.  

When Did Virgil van Dijk Become A Thug?

Twice during the Newcastle match, van Dijk "ran into" Newcastle players not any where near the ball.  First, the 6'5" defender clocked 5'10" Lewis Hall for which he was called for a foul.  Then he went after "bigger" game in the form of 6'0" Anthony Gordon, making sure he got his shoulder into Gordon's head.  He got away with that one, presumably because the referee did not see it and was not red card worthy and therefore not subject to VAR.  I used to like him.

A League of Their Own?

After a relatively easy 2-0 win over Man City on Sunday, Liverpool were looking to be in a division of their own.  The draw with Newcastle (you're welcome, rest of the league) slowed that roll a little but the Reds still have have a seven point lead over both Chelsea and Arsenal and are up nine points on Man City.  

Dropping Points

Only three sides failed to drop points this week.  Chelsea got wins over Aston Villa and Southampton.  Arsenal beat West Ham and Man United (surprisingly easily on two corners).   Bournemouth handled Wolves and Tottenham. The Villa loss to Chelsea was more of an issue of performance rather than result, as that was always a tough match.  They did rebound with a solid win over Brentford but their inconsistency is troubling.  Spurs came away with just one point from matches with Fulham and Bournemouth.  At the dark end of the street, Ipswich, Wolves and West Ham got nothing.

In other news, Michael B announced he no longer follows the EPL.  Hey Michael, you're still ahead of Newcastle,if only on goal differential. 

A Sliver of a Silver Lining

Mateta's goal was the difference in the relegation
six-pointer between Ipswich and Palace
Photograph: Tony O Brien/Reuters

An Ipswich fan would be hard pressed to find anything good that came out of week of 1-0 losses to Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace, especially given that the latter is a relegation rival.  The good news is that another relegation rival - Wolves - lost their matches 4-2 (vs Bournemouth) and 4-0 (to Everton).  Based on the relative margin of losses, Ipswich moved past Wolves and into 18th place based on the change in goal differential.  Surprised how tepid both sides were in the Palace match; I'd been looking for some intensity given their positions in the nether region of the table but it was a real snoozer.  

Another Busy Week Ahead

Saturday dawns with a 7:30 Merseyside Derby, likely the last at Goodison Park.  Unfortunately the schedule makers put both Aston Villa (vs Southampton) and Newcastle (at Brentford) at 10 am.  The latter is sadly a clash of mid-table sides that Newcastle need to win if they are to be taken seriously as a top half of table team.  Actually, Villa is in the same situation only more so; they simply have to beat Southampton. The other 10 am choice is Crystal Palace hosting Man City.  Best choice for neutral is probably Brentford - Newcastle.

The 12:30 feature match on NBC is Man United - Nottingham Forest.  That would be 13th place versus 7th place.  Despite position in the table, United are solid favorites.  Even more fun is that if they do win, they will pass Forest in the table, an indication of how compressed the mid-table is.

Sunday has the marquee match of the weekend with Spurs hosting Chelsea (11:30 on USA).  Even on the road, Chelsea are healthy favorites in this one.  The three 9 am appetizers are Fulham - Arsenal, Ipswich - Bournemouth and Leicester - Brighton.  Not much to recommend there but we'll probably go with Ipswich as we have taken a sudden interest in the Tractor Boys struggle to avoid relegation.

Speaking of relegation, there is a Monday match featuring West Ham and Wolves.  Six points above the drop zone, maybe the Hammers aren't in relegation jeopardy yet but they need to win matches like this one to keep it that way.

It's also a European competition week, which means matches Tuesday-Thursday.  We thank the schedulers for staggering the start times to maximize viewing.  Tuesday you can do Girona - Liverpool at 12:45 and RB Leipzig - Aston Villa at 3.  Wednesday the EPL sides play concurrently with Juventus - Man City and Arsenal -Monaco both at 3 pm.  Thursday you can do a triple header! Start with Astana - Chelsea at 10:30, Viktoria Plezn (I didn't make that up) - Man United at 12:45 and Rangers - Spurs at 3.  Hey no fair, I have a planning board meeting Thursday that means I might only see Spurs.

If you care about this, the MLS Cup Final is Saturday at 4 pm between the LA Galaxy (2 seed) and NY Red Bulls (7 seed) on Fox.  Both were 1-0 winners in their conference finals.  I did watch both (Laura and Mackenzie were watching other stuff on Saturday night); the matches weren't awful but I remember little except LA scored late when it looked like it might go to extra time.  

Not many off days in December.