The Beautiful Game is Back

Taking the Ball to the Corner

“A strategic move, typically employed by workers in the final minutes of the workday, to drag out time and avoid further tasks or responsibilities.”

We’re back! This week we’re discussing:

• How on Earth VAR believed James Tarkowski’s challenge only deserved a yellow card

• Rashford’s return to form

• Where Perplexity went wrong with it’s predictions last week (we give it a chance to redeem itself)

• A shocking fact from Chelsea’s history.

Enjoy!

Premier League Talking Points

James Tarkowski vs Alexis Mac Allister

In the 11th minute of the Merseyside Derby at Anfield, James Tarkowski flew in on Alexis Mac Allister, winning the ball brilliantly, but following through in a fashion reminiscent of the likes of Graeme Souness or Roy Keane. Mac Allister, lucky to escape with his leg still intact, gave a good few sideways rolls on the Anfield turf before crumpling in a heap in front of 60,000 fuming Scousers.

Referee Samuel Barrott and video assistant Paul Tierney deemed it fit to give the Everton defender nothing more than a yellow card and a slap on the wrist. Words used by the video assistant referee sounded something like “All Ball”. I believe I already know the answer here, but what do you think?

Rashford is Back

Have Aston Villa put something in Marcus’ Weetabix? Or did he just need to be let free at a different club? I think it might be both. Since joining the Villa, Rashford has put on a show, linking up beautifully with fellow new signing Marcos Asensio every time he takes to the field. The cheeky ‘Ozil bounce’ finish from the England attacker in last night’s game only put an exclamation point on his return to form, and reminded everyone of his class.

Since his loan move, Rashford has provided the same number of goal contributions (7) in 11 games, half the amount of games it took him to reach that number before leaving the Red Devils. As always, Man United seem to be the problem.

Premier League Scores

Here are the scores from this week’s games so far.

On the whole, it’s been a bit of a snoozefest.

Perplexity’s Predictions

Last week, Perplexity made some predictions for the Bet365 6 scores challenge. It’s fair to say, it didn’t go too well:

(Thank god I didn’t put any money on this)

• Cardiff City 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday ❌ (1-1)

• Norwich City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion ❌ (1-0)

• Stoke City 2-1 Queens Park Rangers ❌ (3-1)

• Brighton 3-1 Nottingham Forest ❌ (0-0)

• Preston North End 2-2 Aston Villa ❌ (0-3)

• Bournemouth 1-3 Man City ❌ (1-2)

Okay, I might be acting a little harsh here. In 4 of the games, the AI was only 1 goal off a correct prediction. Plus, no one would’ve expected the driest 0-0 ever in the Brighton/Forest game, it’s the FA cup for god’s sake. Want it!

This Week’s Challenge

I tasked Perplexity with predicting 5 match facts in tonight’s game between Chelsea and Spurs. Here’s what it came up with:

Looks like we’re in for a treat then!

Fact of the Day

On this day in 1982, Ken Bates bought a heavily in-debt Chelsea for just £1!

At this point in history, Chelsea were struggling in the old second division, and were constantly tarnished with hooliganism from their fans.

Like other Chelsea owners, Bates was a pretty controversial individual. During a turbulent time at the club, he even threatened to electric shock supporters to deter violence. However, many would say he rescued the Blues from falling into the depths of English football, and eventually sold the club for £140 Million.

A good bit of business..

Guess the Player

Guess the footballer from these 3 words.

Find out the answer in next week’s newsletter.

Thanks for reading!

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