Unbeaten Palace host unbeaten Liverpool, as Arsenal travel to Tyneside

0:00The Athletic FC.

0:30their return to Europe away at Betis and in the Carabao Cup, a Wolves win, Eketike trouble and Brighton being brilliant. All that and more in this Totally Football Show.

0:45Thursday, the 25th of September. And it's a Totally Football Show for you. Who's on it today? Well, for a start, there's Natalie Zedra of Sky Sports. Hello. Hi, Natalie. Hi. Nice to see you. Good to see you too, Jimbo. Good. Also here. And it's nice to see them as well. Charlie Eccleshire. Hello. All right. And Duncan Alexander. Bonjour. Hi, Duncan. You've had a haircut. Not that recently. Okay, then. In my life. Yeah, definitely. memories what a busy week obviously we've got Premier League Match Day 6 looming but a busy midweek as well of cup action with the Europa League and the League Cup one of the fixtures of which Natalie I know you enjoy England's unique football culture did you notice that on Wednesday there was a totally unique fixture in the English football landscape really tell me about it Port Vale against Arsenal okay which is Duncan is the only two teams not named after a place in the entire football league yeah some people will say Arsenal is sort of named after the Woolwich Arsenal oh yeah that's fair but it's not a place it's not a thing but that is true it was named after it was a location originally wasn't it they didn't name it after the Arsenal because they were big fans of buildings with lots of weapons well I think they were I think that was the oh really wasn't it because they all weren't there or something yeah probably but you know It's not like, I don't know, Atalanta, which is named after a goddess rather than, say, something else.

2:21Than Stoke. Yeah. But all right, Port Vale. What about Port Vale, though? Because that's one of the long mysteries. Why Port Vale? No one knows. They're from Burslem, which is a bit of Stoke. So, yeah. Vale Park, known as the Wembley of the North, back in the day. Was it? Even though it's not in the north? Well, it depends where you are, doesn't it? Well, in Bromsgrove, it's north. I reckon if you leave Stoke with a heavy heart and head on to the motorway, you will see signs for the north if you turn left. So I don't think Stoke is in the north. But anyway, there you go. In Brazil, you've got loads of teams that are not called after, like Corinthians.

2:59Yes, like Corinthians, which is named over Corinthians casuals from here. Oh, nice, yeah. Any others? Should I say loads? No, Palmeiras. You have loads. I was actually trying to remember other teams. Flamengo, though, is an area. Flamengo is a club. Yeah. But is it also an area? Flamengo or an off? Yes, it is, in Rio. So Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, they're all areas. All areas. Yes. Vasco da Gama is not an area. It's a man. Yes, it is a man. An intrepid explorer. Yes, yes. All right. So, yeah, I have plenty of examples. I find that very intriguing. I do, too. I do, too. Of course, if you want teams that are not named after places, I think the Eredivis is where you want to go for Hercules and Go Ahead Eagles and that kind of thing.

3:44That sounds like fun. Doesn't it, though? Yeah. Doesn't it, though? More creativity and team names. Natalie, you're going to be heading to a new ground this weekend, sort of Monday. Yeah, on Monday. Yeah, for Everton West Ham. Love a new ground. Yeah, Hill Dickinson. Yes, Hill Dickinson. Meant to be nice. What was the last new ground you went to? Brand new ground. Well, it doesn't have to be new, but it was new to you. Oh, yes. No. So, yeah, it's like going to an amusement park for me because it's a whole new experience. Each one has their own character, especially here in England. Right. So Carabao Cup, I do plenty of Carabao Cup.

4:20That gives me... Oh, Cleethorpe. You went to Cleethorpe, didn't you? Yes, yes. Grimsby Town. Is it Blundell Park? Yes. Blundell Park. Yes. Right. And I did Bromley Ipswich on round one as well. That was... It's always a great experience. I went to Bromley for round two. they played Wycombe such a good ground yeah but you go past chickens and animals yes there's a little farm on the way from I call it main road but it's pretty much suburban back street southeast London yeah and I'm always amazed with the quality of the pitch every time I post anything on social media from like lower divisions here in England I get tons of texts from Brazilians saying I cannot believe the quality of the pitch really it's something England should take best groundsman in the world it was interesting because they showed yesterday and Port Vale were playing Arsenal, and it's a carpet of a pitch.

5:08But they showed nostalgia last time they played here in 98, and it was the classic kind of FA Cup on what looked like a bit of a bog of a pitch. And yeah, how times have changed. So what's happened there? Just money? No, there is actually, there was a few articles on The Athletic about it, but there was a bit of a revolution in British groundsmanship about 10, 12 years ago. So much so that they're now headhunted by clubs around the world because they're so good. So back in the, I say 90s, maybe early noughties, I remember interviewing the guy being brought into San Siro to try and rescue their pitch, which had been a real issue for, well, ever since they put the extra bit on it for 1990.

5:48So they had an English bloke that they'd flown out and basically now, you know, like a big signing, big groundsman signing. Unveiled. With a pitchfork. Yeah, with a ride on mower. Yeah. But yeah, blending sort of, I think it's like 20 % plastic, with real grass and all that stuff. Oh, really? So a lot of these pitches, these carpets are actually... Yeah, because it gives the robustness, but also you get the natural, actual grass. Well, drainage has improved a lot as well, hasn't it? Yeah. That was always a big issue, drainage. It is something you should take proud of. Okay. Be proud of. One of our great exports.

6:24No, yes, no, because if you watch first division of the National League in Brazil, you see a few pitches that you go like, I cannot believe this is the first division, you know. Really? Oh, that's nice, eh? That's a nice little positive note. Love to stay and chat about drainage, but we've got Premier League match day six to look forward to. Quite a mixed bag of fixtures in that. And before any of that, let's get into what happened on top of these glorious pitches midweek in the Carabao Cup and Europa League. This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, Part of the Athletic FC Podcast Network.

7:04League Cup first of all. This midweek saw the third round completed, plus the draw for the last 16. Among the headlines, Emil Heskey's two sons playing for City. That's Jadon and Regan in their 2-0 win at Huddersfield. Wolves getting a rare win and knocking out Everton. Wrexham and Wickham both reached the last 16. Brighton scored six goals away for the second straight game in this competition. Four of them were for Diego Gomez. That was in their 6-0 victory at Barnsley on Tuesday. Anybody see this? Did you see Diego Gomez's goals? I saw the goals. Yes, I saw the goals. Second one and the third one.

7:43The second one was really nice. The third one from the long distance. He hits the ball flying. Such power. Yeah. Yes, a poker of goals. A poker. Um poker de goles. Yeah, no, absolutely. I don't think in English there's a word for scoring four goals. There isn't a four-fer. No, there isn't. Crikey. And five? A five-fer. Because in Spanish it's re-poker of goals. Really? Yeah, in Spanish. Okay. And they use it. They really use it. Wow, that's incredible. Yes. They really use it. Like hat-trick is so popular. Why can't we make poker of goals? I don't know. Yeah. I don't know. Brighton anyway going to the last 16 where they'll face Arsenal who won 2-0 away on that lovely pitch at Port Vale oh Eberich here's he got his first goal for Arsenal and then Trossard got the second and Max Daman how did he play Charlie you watching this I saw this yes Daman I mean it was incredible the build up that Daman was given I mean honestly it was as if like Arsenal were about to put on sort of a peak Leo Messi or something and obviously and, you know, he's 15 and there's a huge amount of hype around him.

8:54Yeah, he was pretty good. He kept it pretty simple. He played one really, really good first-time pass, which actually it kind of made you realise how rarely you see that with Arsenal. You know, it was one of those that comes to him. It's quite risky in some ways in the sense that you might easily just overhit it and lose the ball, but he catches it perfectly first time and plays in Jokeres, who is one-on-one, has a shot. The defender comes across and makes the tackle. Yeah, he was good. I mean, I would say, other than that, didn't do anything massively spectacular, but very positive. I mean, and, you know, was constantly looking for the ball and, you know, meant that Saka could have half an hour off, which was a relief.

9:34I can't remember who it was in central defence, but over hit a pass to him quite early after he'd come on and he sort of turned around and berated him. It was like, yeah, fair play. That's good for a 15 year old. yeah I mean kind of crazy to be playing at 15 and there's maybe a moral question about whether 15 year olds should be able to play do you think well it's funny I remember I was watching the game where Weneri came on at 15 with my wife who's a social worker child protection and she was and I was kind of like isn't this cool a 15 year olds playing she was kind of like that's really effed up like what if he makes a big mistake and you know what will he then be exposed to this guy's a child and I was kind of like yeah but what a left foot though right so yeah ever since that I have felt a little bit uncomfortable about a fifth I mean a 15 year old is a child and you are exposing them to a huge amount I mean you know that said compared to being like a child film star or something like that it's probably favorable like you're in a network a system you've got a lot of supportive people around you but yeah I think it is definitely a question to be asked or a conversation to be had.

10:42That makes sense. Wow. Talking about youngsters, talented youngsters, Miles Lewis-Kelly's back heel to as his goal. Yeah? Yeah, it was lovely. I want to believe that he did. You don't think he did? I watched it a few times. I couldn't... I don't know. I don't know. The intent was there anyway. Yeah, exactly. It served its purpose. Yeah, it did. It bamboozled the defender. Also going through to the last team team where they'll take on Brighton. Charlie, you also watched Spurs in their 3-0 win against Doncaster, which feature quite a surprising opening goal. Yes, the bicycle, or sort of overhead kick from Paulina, yeah.

11:24Yeah, it wasn't like, as overheads, bicycles go, it wasn't the kind of most, I think it's been slightly over, you know, some, it wasn't like a sort of flying acrobatic one, it was more a kind of, I mean it was very impressive, but it was more a kind of, not the same I'm leaning away from him. But just like, you might hear that and look it up and be like expecting, you know, one of those great bicycle kicks. I did look it up and I was impressed. You were? Okay. I thought it was a bit more hooky than maybe you want. Yeah, but it's Palinja. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think that's the surprising factor.

11:54We didn't know he had it in his locker. Yeah, he wasn't tackling before the goal. It was quite similar to, do you remember Alan Shearer's one against Belgium in 1999, Stadium of London? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They are overhead kicks, but they're sort of just men sitting down and kicking the ball behind them, more than kind of Hugo Sanchez. We need an union for that as well. But he was playing centre-back as well. Was he? Yeah, I mean, they did a lot of long throws. I mean, it felt a little bit, because this game was so uncompetitive, that they were just sort of practising their set pieces, which were obviously really important to Thomas Frank.

12:31Increasingly. And, you know, long throws. I mean obviously Arsenal being in Stoke adjacent would have brought back some memories for them of being so bullied by the long throws of Rory De Lappe but they did face a few actually from Port Vale that largely managed to deal with them and Arsenal themselves have started using long throws Everybody's doing it, I myself Yeah, went home I've started doing it, put stuff in the bin You've got to go with the Zeitgeist guy sometimes You certainly have As Spurs are going to face the holders Newcastle in the last 16 These matches will be played in the week starting the 27th of October, in about a month's time anyway.

13:09Also this week in the Carabao Cup, Liverpool beat Southampton 2-1. Wasn't the easiest of games for Arnie Slott's side. Southampton were very lively at the start, almost took the lead. But then almost immediately after Will Steele's outfit had missed a chance, Alexander Iza scored his first goal for Liverpool. and the second came from... He was replaced at halftime by Eketike, who scored late on and then took his shirt off and held it up so the crowd could see his name. He then subsequently got a yellow card for that, as you do, and he'd already picked up one, so he's now been sent off and will miss this weekend's game away at Crystal Palace, which is quite big, no?

13:50The fact... Was there a particular reason why in the Carabao Cup he took his shirt off and pointed to his name? It wasn't because Izak had scored, was it? I don't know. I love the Carabao Cup. Arnaz Lott was great because he was like, OK, if it's Champions League final and it's the 87th minute and you dribble past three people and put it in the top corner, do that. But it's the Carabao Cup. What am I going to do? I was impressed with what he said because he said, if I went past three players and put it on the top corner, then maybe you can say, oh, this is all about me. But if I scored a goal like he did tonight, I would turn to Chiesa and say, it's all about you, Federico.

14:23Great assist, great run, and I didn't have to do a lot. Maybe that's me being old school. Although maybe then Chiesa turns around to Salah and says, why didn't you put him in the Champions League? So it can go on. But it was funny because Frimpong ran up to him as well. I was like, what are you doing? You're in big trouble. Like when your mate sees a teacher coming. What are you doing? But he doesn't usually do that. And Isaac had just scored. Maybe he's just really into the whole Will Still meme thing. And for him, scoring against a Will Still team was... What's the Will Still meme? Well, you know, when Will Still was forging his career in France, there was a...

14:58People would be like, have you heard of this sort of English-Belgian guy that's making his way in France? And so many people said it that it became like a kind of, you know, have you heard this thing? Yeah, so... Excellent. You never know. OK, TK, who will not be featuring for Liverpool this weekend against Palace. Liverpool do go through to the last 16 where they've drawn Palace. They just say Palace again and again and again. Wow. We've got the third time in... Yeah, community shield. Yeah, two months. We'll talk about that Premier League game later on. They played in the last day of the season as well.

15:30Yes. Yeah, they did. Really? Yeah. Wow. It's quite the series. What else from the draw? Let's see. Newcastle Spurs, Swansea, Man City. Arsenal, Brighton, Liverpool Palace. Grimsby went through last week. Going to be hosting Brentford. Wrexham, who've also made it through. They drew Cardiff. It's going to be an all-Welsh affair there. Cardiff who knocked out Burnley midweek. Wrexham who put poor old Reading out 2-0. They're in the fourth round for the first time since 1977. Fact fans. Wolves will be playing Chelsea who are world champions but went behind to Lincoln of League One. And a really shaky display from their keeper.

16:19No, the reserve Jorgensen because Robert Sanchez was suspended for this. And, well, one other game which we haven't mentioned yet, Duncan. Wigan-Wickham. Wigan-Wickham, yeah. The homophone classico. Yeah. Two wins out of two for Wickham under a new manager. So it's all fine. Excellent. And then they drew Fulham in the next round. How do you feel about that? It would have been better away, I think. like a nice, you know, southwest London walk through Bishop's Park. Right. How's the walk to Wickham's Ground? Less... Bucolic. Yeah. Well, there are a lot of trees at Wickham's Ground. How do you say bucolic in Portuguese?

17:01Bucolico. I see. That's even better to be fair. Wickham do probably have the most bucolic ground in the league, but the walk there through an industrial sake, perhaps less so. But looking at the overall draw, I'm going to say that's the worst combination of fixtures you could get from the teams that are there like nothing you know you could have had Arsenal Spurs I mean I guess Wrexham Cardiff is as close as you get to like a oof but most of those games are a bit like Newcastle Tottenham is reasonably interesting that's a good one but yeah I know there's not a standout but then does that mean the quarters and semis are going to be delicious hello free Christmas treat that quarterfinal of the Carabao.

17:45One of the best weeks of the season, I reckon. Last 16 of the Carabao Cup? No, the... Oh, sorry. The quarterfinals just before Christmas. Yeah. Very nice. Very nice. Now, that was the Carabao Cup, clearly. But also going on this midweek were some early games from the Europa League. First round of the league phase. There'll be more games tonight, including Rangers. They're up against Gink. Aston Villa hosting Bologna as well. Aston Villa having a rough time of it at the moment. But already in action were various sides. Celtic, who drew 1-1, awaited Svenne Svesda. Kelechi Iñanacho opening the scoring for Celtic.

18:27Marko Arnautovic for Red Star did not know that he was there. That's a very 2015 Premier League coded score sheet. And Roma went to Nice. And with Sir Jim Ratcliffe watching morosely from the stands, beat the Riviera side 2-1, which means Gasparini's now had four wins in five matches in charge of the Giallarossi. Well done to them. Oh, did you see, I don't know if you saw the goal, Simicas on loan from Liverpool made his first start and the second goal is an absolute gem. It's a very Premier League goal actually because he's bombed up the wing and he curls a delicious cross in which Gianluca Mancini just meets first time and lashes in.

19:10Charlie will be going, ooh, that is nice, very, very shortly as this video player loads up. But the other game, and probably the one that people are most looking out for, took place in Seville. And so Real Betis host Nottingham Forest playing their first European fixture in 29 years. Natalie, you watched this? Yes, it was fun. Yeah. Fun time, yeah. First half, 13 shots from Forest, five on target, loads going on, reeling the front foot. Real Betis scored first, and then Igor Jesus scored twice. But then halftime, Betis had three changes, and Forrest, Ange goes and takes off Douglas Luiz, who was the one holding midfielder, and for Dylane Bakwa, who's a winger.

19:58And then you think, okay, this is good. This is Ange ball. We're here for it. But the game completely changes. Ange, after the match, he said that he never really felt like they were a proper threat because they didn't create a lot of big chances, Real Betis. But that momentum of being the front foot, creating a lot of chances, it completely disappeared. And then in the end, Anthony scored. Because it had been Betis chance after Betis chance. Yeah. And in the end, Ange was questioned about the change. And I can understand that he has to manage minutes, Douglas Luiz especially. and he apparently had a hamstring problem.

20:39But still, it really changed the dynamic of the game. If you look at it, a point against Real Betis is a good point. Against Real Betis away is a good point. But it was just a weird second half. Right. Some people kind of calling this game a microcosm of Spurs last season under Ange. The first half, a frenzy of attacking football. Well, the second half very much all petering out while the opposition rain shots him. Well, with a hamstring injury as well. With a hamstring injury. I mean, that was a sort of... Cherry on the top. Yeah, that was very much a staple of his time and his early time at Celtic as well.

21:15We should say it's a lovely goal from Anthony as well, the eventual equaliser. Now Walker angles tight right the way through. Coming in, Anthony! And with five minutes to go, Forrest concede after being under all kinds of pressure in this second half. It's a good finish, yeah. I mean, and he celebrates in a very humble fashion, your compatriot, Natalie. No, let's talk about the other compatriot, then. Igor Jesus. He was never a prolific goal scorer for Botafogo, no? Yeah, no, he scored a lot for them. But it's a funny story, James, because he starts as a pro in Brazil, plays for Curitiba for one year, and then he's off to Dubai, and he plays in Dubai for four years, which is very weird if you think of a 20-year-old.

22:03It's usually the other way around. But then last year, he comes back to Brazil completely out of the radar, and he starts scoring goals. He wins the league with Botafogo. He wins Libertadores with Botafogo. And then he scores against PSG at the Club World Cup. He gets the move to Forest. He gets called up for the national team. All of this in the space of a year and a half for a guy that not so long ago was playing in Dubai. That's amazing. Yeah, it is a funny story. He's a strong physical guy. Elliot Anderson was mentioning that he's always in the right places. But I think tactically he can still improve a few things in his game.

22:41And this is something that we already saw when he was playing Botafogo. But Botafogo fans obviously really, really liked him. Chris Wood started on the bench. So that is big. And it is understandable. He's 33 and Igor Jesus is 24. So it's only natural that they start looking for options, you know, in terms of rotation. But it's good for Forrest fans. And yeah. OK. Good point, as you say, away to Real Betis, who finished sixth in the Liga last season in a brilliant form under Manuel Pellegrini. One other bit of bad news for Forrest, though, as they continue to chase their first win under Antipostokogli, was Nikola Milenkovic going off injured right at the end.

23:28Any word on how serious that is? Yeah, apparently it's not so serious. So that's the first thing Ange said. But, you know, and Murilo wasn't playing. Again, just a slight pinch of salt. His sort of instant assessments of injuries didn't always prove to be the most accurate over time. So, yeah, we'll see. Forrest Owens-Sundeland this weekend in the Premier League. It's match day six. Let's get on to that next.

24:22TextNow.

24:28Visit textnow.com for terms and conditions.

24:58from home anywhere since March. We'll see if they can do it Saturday lunchtime. At three o 'clock, the league's two unbeaten sides go at it. Liverpool, rare opportunity to take on Crystal Palace. Liverpool, you'll recall, five points clear. Palace currently in fifth spot. Chelsea will be hosting Brighton. This is all the three o 'clock games. Leeds, they're excellent home record. They're actually yet to concede at Ellen Road this season. We'll get a test with the visit of Bournemouth. and Man City will play host to Burnley. Burnley's last 10 visits to the Etihad has seen them lose 10 times with an aggregate score of 40 goals to 3.

25:39Ha. Tea time, it's Forest Sunderland and just home debut at the city ground and then at 8 o 'clock on Saturday the increasingly popular time slot will see Spurs take on Wolves. Sunday at 2 o 'clock, Crisis Club Aston Villa hosts Fulham at 4.30, Arsenal are at Newcastle and then on Monday night it's the person you dumped now all loved up with somebody else, Classico, as David Moyes' Everton face very much not David Moyes' anymore, West Ham, where supposedly Graham Potter's got two games to save his job. West Ham in the bottom three right now alongside Wolves and Aston Villa. What, apart from long throws and teams passing less and goalkeepers sending it, can we expect from this weekend?

26:25Just a word on long throws. Yes, because we haven't had enough of that, right? Yeah, no, because I was at Brentford Fulham. Yes, and now Brentford's playing Man United. And I thought it was an interesting insight because Fulham really managed to stop the long throws from Brentford and they just kept pushing. How did they do it? Yes. So both Alexi Wolby and Marco Silva spoke about it after the match and they said they practiced throughout the week, not necessarily the long throws, but they practiced a lot of second balls. because with the long throws, you don't know the trajectory of the ball and you don't really know the position of the players.

27:00So you put a lot of effort on the second balls. And that really worked. So if Man United is listening, maybe they're doing it. And I think it will be interesting to see how teams will deal with this throughout the season. I mean, Man United have been vulnerable to set pieces. So this will be interesting to see. You'd imagine they would be testing them a lot. I mean, it is a weird, long throws is, it's a strange one because it's obviously, it has these negative connotations. And I do think like, you know. Does it have negative? I'm really excited by the return. Well, I think the whole Stoke thing, you know, it's seen as quite rudimentary.

27:37And because it's very popular at lower levels of the game. You know, if you play Sunday League, you know, you know, if a team's attacking you, they've got a threat, they're probably going to hurl it in. Which obviously is more hoping for the best. Well, it feels like now it's almost an equalizer, not an equalizer, but it's a leveler. in the sense that you have teams with enormous resources who buy these incredibly gifted technical players. But if you can get someone who can lob a ball a really long way, you've got a chance of... Sure. But I think what's interesting is the fact that it's even the teams who've spent a lot of money themselves who are doing it.

28:07You think a team like Arsenal or whoever, I mean, when they played PSG in the Champions League semi-final, they had a lot of joy with long throws early on in that game in the second leg. PSG then got a bit wise to it. And I think that is a bit the thing with it. I think there's a limited amount of time, for some teams anyway, unless they're really expert at it, that it really works. Because you should be able to defend them, like Nati says with the trajectory. The long throw, in case you're curious, is defined as a throw of 20 metres or more, which arrives in the opposition box. Duncan? Yeah, I think there's a difference in teams.

28:39I think some throw it in, some actually, like Brentford, do do it quite cleverly and have specific routines. And it's kind of like the NFL-ification of football is continuing apace, you know, like special teams. And, you know, every season people are finding little marginal gains. Do you remember Liverpool hired the throwing coach? Thomas Gronema. Yeah, and that caused this big culture war. There was the whole, like, don't have to take a throw-in. Exactly, yeah. Although, as we saw with Califiori the other day, that some players don't know how to take a throw-in and need a little reminder. There's an excellent piece by Optor analyst David Segar on PremierLeague.com where he breaks down the various kind of tactical shifts and the numbers behind them.

29:20Long throws per game are more than double from last season. So this is a real shift. Admittedly a small sample size. They're up almost four times from five years ago. West Ham are the only team in the Premier League not to have attempted a long throw into the box yet this season. Brentford lead the way with 23. That's pretty busy. Other trends, which David Seager identifies, and I think a lot of people have, passing, which is at a 15-year low, the amount of passing that teams are doing in the Premier League. Long goal kicks are on the rise. Percentage has gone up. Almost 50 % of goal kicks now end in the opposition half.

29:59So that's quite a shift. The game hasn't gone. It's come back. It's come back. I mean, this is what a lot of people did. We had a couple of years ago people bemoaning the fact that this sort of football, which was prevalent in the 90s and 2000s, had gone forever. But it never goes forever. But I do think those throw numbers will plateau a bit. Once defensive teams get wise to it, I think we'll see less of it. How much variety can you put into it? Because with corners, for example, there's a lot of things you can do with corners. Maybe we're just at the start of the rebirth of long throw-ins because they're going to find out new ways to make it trickier like it happened with corners.

30:37Bring back the somersault throw approach. Yeah, yeah. The forward roll. There is something as well for a team, like what Liverpool, the way they're able to, especially at Anfield, that momentum they keep up with, and this is actually what Ange always wanted to do, was the ball's always in play. You're knackering defenders out because they're getting no rest. Long throws do stem momentum a little bit, which I think works well if you're a team maybe like Brentford where you're not necessarily going to have all of the ball if you're a team like a Liverpool or a Man City or an Arsenal and you're playing a defensive team at home constantly taking long throws it's quite a momentum staller and a vibe killer well Arsenal even we saw it against City a little bit on Sunday but Arsenal have been you know at the vanguard of throws quite a lot in recent seasons they have that one where Odegaard kind of makes a run along the touchline and they angle it over the top of the defence because obviously you can't be offside from a throw in so that's quite useful Hector Bellerin was a revolutionary in his foul throws three in a game what was that?

31:38he just couldn't really take a throw but then said in I've been doing this all my life in his sort of like Spanish Cockney hybrid way to a linesman who was like you can't throw it like that that said players are generally allowed to do foul throws at Premier League level which I think is great because it's just not it just otherwise encourages hurling it which is what you get at amateur level because if you take a short one you'll be pink do you think it's good for the international audience that English football has returned to its core product and big men up front and people lobbying the ball I'm not sure because I think a lot of people relate Premier League to a different type of football now of course if you think about the expansion of Premier League internationally and you think about you're focusing on the last 10-15 years more or less and when things just escalated to the Guardiola side of football, you know.

32:36So, yeah, it is a switch. But it's interesting. It is interesting. It is interesting. What do you want to look at first? Do you want to look at Brentford against Man United? Do you want to look at the clash of the two unbeaten teams in the Premier League? Crystal Palace hosting Liverpool Saturday at 3 o 'clock. the only two teams in the Premier League who are yet to go behind in a game this season. Palace, of course, on that incredible 17-game unbeaten run, which has featured not only the Community Shield victory on penalties over Liverpool, but also the FA Cup win over Man City. And one or two issues for Liverpool, like no Hugo Icatique.

33:16Should Liverpool's rivals get their hopes up for this game? I think so. Yeah? You know why? Because I think they have a very underrated defensive line in the Premier League. their back three. There's a lot of talk about Marguerri, I know. But like Chris Richard's been brilliant. Lacroix, he's very consistent, you know. They're just a good fit. They're three defenders who are different from one another and they complement each other. And we have to consider as well that they lost Chaloba midway through last season. So they were able to rebuild this in their own structure using that back three. And this is where we need to give credit to Oliver Glasner and what he's been doing at Crystal Palace, because he's made this side a team that really runs and sprints and shows a lot of energy and that can outplay big teams tactically, especially.

34:08They've had the better of Man City. They've had the better of Liverpool. So there is a lot of credit that we need to give to Glasner and to Palace. So, yeah, I think they can have their hopes up. Yeah. Why not? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely, it feels like quite a big one in the sense that obviously Liverpool have won all their games. And I don't know, there aren't that many games that you'd circle as like a potential banana skin. I do think this is definitely a tricky one. Like if they go and make light of this one, then I think that strikes a bit of a blow. Have they made light of any fixtures?

34:42Well, no, they haven't. I mean, they've all been hard work at this point, but they have a five point lead. Yeah, they have a five-point lead, which is, you know, it's very... I think it's only a few times anyone's had a five-point lead this early. Since the three points for a win rule came in in 1981, which, you know, great moment in history, only two teams have had a five-point lead after five games. Did they both go on to win the title? They did not. City in 15-16 did not. They came fourth. Came fourth? Liverpool in 2019-20 did win the league, but, you know, project restart. So, if you want some more stats, actually...

35:15I do. Liverpool are only the 14th team to start a Premier League season with five or more wins in a row and only four of the previous 13 went on to win the league so starting with lots of wins looks good but deep down is bad so they don't they don't feel convincing do they really? They don't and it's just like what I was saying last week it's that classic thing of like but winning when you're not playing well is the sign of a good team or it's you're going to get found out or you're going to get found out exactly and we're going to find out soon They're not at their best, but when they're not at their best, they're still producing.

35:50Like the first half against Everton was really good. So they're still producing brilliant moments with their midfield options and their forward options. And you have like Soboslai and Gravenberg playing a really good season. So maybe it's just... Yeah, and they've won five games in a row without really using the most expensive player in British football history. So, you know, there's reason to be positive as well, but definitely one that I would be watching were it available on UK television. 3 p.m. Saturday. One thing from midweek and the Carabao Cup that we didn't mention for Liverpool was the sight of Giovanni Leone going off, stretch it off and apparently a torn ACL so likely to be a lengthy absence for that new signing a real shame Can I just say on that as well I mean that is one of the elements about Liverpool I do find fascinating I mean they, until Leone got that injury they had a completely fit squad and I mean last year their injury record was amazing and I'm really really interested to know the extent to which that is revolutionary on a slot practices And if it is, then, oh my God, he's going to have a good career.

37:04Because in football right now, that feels like, honestly, one of the biggest factors. Or if it's a little bit, you know, that was quite fortunate. I mean, Salah started every Premier League game last season. Wow. That's kind of amazing. When you're looking at, you know, you look at their two big rivals, Arsenal and City. I mean, Arsenal have lost a player to injury pretty much every game, mid-game this season, sometimes more than one. So it's not rotation that's keeping them. Exactly. That's what I mean. It's this incredible alchemy. Yeah, if you think about how you manage training, for example, what I've always heard from Manchester City, for example, is that they get a lot of time off because it's their methodology.

37:40They believe that they should have a lot of time off. They get like two days off in a row. And we really need to find out what are they doing? Because if they have a similar record to what they had last season, they just will in the league, I'm pretty sure, because their rivals won't. with the volume of games that teams are playing and obviously City coming off the Club World Cup as well. Yeah. City are also eight points back now. Arsenal, who are along with Spurs and Bournemouth, five points behind Liverpool. What are they up to this weekend? City, sorry. Yeah, and talking about City, we're talking about rotation.

38:16I'm interested to see which is going to be the starting XI because they played the same starting XI for three matches in a row. And of course, they rotated now for the Carabao Cup, as expected. but against Burnley I mean they they did pretty well at home they made it hard for Liverpool of course we're talking about Liverpool making it hard for themselves but that is what happened they came close to Old Trafford as well yeah yeah they did so but their record against Man City away as mentioned is not inspiring not inspiring that's extraordinary number of I mean to be averaging and conceding four goals over ten games that's That's a Watford-esque.

38:56Yeah. That's Man City-Burnley. It's also a three o 'clock game on Saturday. Arsenal, that's the 4.30 Sunday match. Their trip to St. James' to take on Newcastle. Newcastle, who, I'm not sure we mentioned this, actually, had a big win midweek in the Carabao Cup. They were home to Bradford, 4-1. They triumphed with the braces from Joellington, or Joellington, sorry, Joellington and William Osula. and a great goal from Andy Cook as a consolation was it brilliant goal yeah which he properly celebrated which I was pleased about there was no attempt to be like oh it's a consolation I can't celebrate it's like you scored a great goal against a Premier League team enjoy it so far in the league for Newcastle it hasn't really clicked but is this do you think this is the game where it all comes together the big defensive numbers but maybe with a bit more shot conversion or do you fancy Arsenal to well you mentioned shot conversion and Anthony Gordon's back for this game after his suspension he's averaging 6.7 shots per 90 which is the most but with a conversion rate of 0 % which sort of sums up we'll see Newcastle are the first team in Premier League history to draw their first three away games 0-0 as well it's not quite clicking but could use the word obviously in that sentence well yeah right obvious to me but yeah I think this game will have them you know they love this fixture they really do and I mentioned before Newcastle.

40:24It's such a good fixture. I mean, this has been hugely dramatic. And this is, and Newcastle fans hear me out, but I mentioned before about Arsenal having those nightmares against Stoke back in the kind of late noughties and 2010s. This is, I think, the closest you can get to that in modern football with how things have changed. But Arsenal have gone there consistently and been roughed up, for want of a better phrase. Like, they, Newcastle, are an incredibly physical team and they've been excellent against Arsenal in the home games. They've won four out of the last five against Arsenal at St James' Park.

40:57One of those was in the cut, but three of those in the league. Arsenal didn't score in any of those games they last. And it's tended to follow a pretty similar pattern where Newcastle, in the last few, anyway, they've got a lead. And then once they've got a lead, really gone into lockdown mode. And Arsenal have done next to nothing, really struggled against a team that are brilliant defending elite. And then the crowd get up and they get so encouraged by it. They start to relish the physical challenge and there's just no... Dan Byrne does a tackle. Dan Byrne does a tackle. And, you know, and I was thinking actually about Dan Byrne.

41:34You know, the fact that Nani Madueke is out, I think is really significant. Because then they can't just do like, okay, well, you've handled Saka now of half an hour of Nani Madueke. I think that's a big... That's where Arsenal are better now. Put it this way. I wouldn't be bringing on Max Dahman in this game. Oh my God. Yeah, well, I was thinking that. Down against Dan Byrne would be quite something to see. It would. Merueki, who came off at halftime against Man City, and we now know that's a knee injury, which they're talking about two months it's going to take to sort that out. Natalie, sorry.

42:02Yeah, no, and with Newcastle, and obviously struggling with scoring goals, and I thought it was interesting what Eddie Howe said recently about them evolving into a different team. Saudi Arabia. with a different, when they attack with a different emphasis. I think that's interesting because obviously we talk about Isaac and the goals, the amount of goals he scored. But what I always found interesting about Isaac is the way that he moved and the way that he read spaces and how much of a handful he was without the ball as well, while Volta made. He's a completely different player in this sense. So it is going to take time for them to get used to this type of striker.

42:49I can't understand why they're struggling a little bit to score with him. When is Vista going to be available? Not sure we know. I think it's sort of ongoing. But yeah, obviously that would make a difference. I really enjoy when fixtures just become something out of nowhere. And like Charlie was saying, this really has. I mean, there was obviously all the stuff you mentioned, but also the three incident VAR decisions. disgrace when it went out of play what was it out of play push and then offside yeah also one of the great linguistic escapes when Arteta called it a disgrace in various terms and then claimed that he was that it disgracia in Spanish means a bit more like a misfortune yeah exactly yeah like I mean fair enough what an amazing claim and it was accepted right and of course you got check to see and that yeah the only time teams been for up in a Premier League game and not won.

43:45Wow. Can I say, I mean, the big dilemma I think that Arteta has here is does he fight fire with fire and do this very unpopular, really physical midfield thing? Or does he do what he did the only time they've won against Newcastle in recent times and say, actually, we're going to out-football you? And he played Jorginho, this would have been May 23. They won 2-0, played really well and sort of played the game more on their terms. And again, I remember back in the Stoke days when Arsenal would always go and struggle away at Stoke. I was talking to a Stoke fan, he was like, the mistake Arsenal make is trying to match us physically.

44:18Like, don't do that. Like, we're really vulnerable to pace and trickery. Like, you would beat us if you did that. Whereas Wenger got quite spooked and was like, well, you know, we've been so roughed up. And I think that's tended to happen as well with Arteta against Newcastle. So does he go Merino or does he outcraft him? I don't know if it's an indication that Merino, he started the last two games in a row. He started as a striker in the cup and in the midfield, obviously, last weekend. I would love... At midweek, he started four games in a row now. Yeah. Or five, going back to Liverpool. I would love that to be on the signpost if you came into Stoke.

44:49We are vulnerable to pace and trickery. Be good. That's Arsenal's trip to Newcastle, which will be 4.30 on Sunday. And as ever, we'll be doing our weekend roundup on Totally Football Show straight after that, which will be ready for you on Monday morning. but if you want to watch us doing it then you can do that on YouTube. I think around about 7, in and around 7 o 'clock Sunday evening we'll be live streaming our recording of that show. Loads more to talk about. Next up we'll get on to Brentford Man United, a bit more of that. What's going on with Villa, Spurs and blah, blah, blah, blah, lots of stuff.

45:34You're listening to The Totally Football Show with James Richardson. now with you four times a week. Keep up to date with us on Insta and enjoy seeing glorious Technicolor on YouTube at The Totally Show. Brentford Man United is Saturday lunchtime game. We mentioned this a little bit. Is it going to be more rubbernecking or signs of recovery after Man United's impressive 2-1 win against 10-man Chelsea last weekend? It's a sort of venue that kind of is a bit of a litmus test for United. obviously remember the 4-0 early in the 10-hug in the heat and Ronaldo here's a stat Duncan I don't know if you like these or not but the only Man United manager to actually win at the GTEC is Ralph Raniac correct don't tell Michael Cox yeah yeah and Brentford even though they're a very different outfit this time around not least because Man United went and bought their best player Brentford have done alright they beat Aston Villa there although Asterisk Aston Villa they also drew against Chelsea although yeah another Asterisk there but Mbemo went on him he's been United's most positive note for the season so far yeah I think sort of stats had more shots from inside the box than any player or something and that was in in amongst some other quite encouraging stats for United about posting high XG numbers and that sort of thing I wondered how skewed that was by playing 10 man Chelsea for pretty much that whole game but you know I'm sure they'll take it United have not won an away fixture in the Premier League since March hmm All right.

47:04Well, that's the Saturday lunchtime. Aston Villa, who are in the bottom three, are enjoying their worst start to a top flight campaign in 61 years. Crikey. The situation was complicated at Villa Park on Monday with news that their president of football operations, a.k.a. the man who does all the signings, Monchi, had left the club all of a sudden. Gone, gee. More like. That definitely works. not sure what the background is on that is it a positive Monchi's not covered himself in glory at some of his recent positions certainly he's not missed at all in the Italian capital but yeah it does speak I guess to the fact that there's unsettled times at Villa yeah that was big Monchi leaving Villa was big he worked with Unai in Sevilla when they had a different dynamic it's a different structure in a different club and it just wasn't effective And it's funny because it wasn't so long ago that we were praising Villa for making this really good January window with all these loans.

48:10But the truth is now we have kind of a sense of stagnation with Villa, with an aging squad. And they have signed players. They have spent a lot of money. I think it's 28 players they signed since when I arrived at Villa in January 2022. So, of course, Monchi hasn't been there the whole time. But someone has to take accountability because they just had a very poor transfer window and they are not coping with PSR and all these rules that, well, they're bringing Roberto Olabi. And he used to work for Real Sociedad. He brought Isaac to Real Sociedad to sell him to Newcastle afterwards. And he sold Zubimendi to Arsenal for a good amount of money.

48:57So we'll see what type of effect it's going to be. But Monchi leaving was quite significant. The aforementioned Mikel Marino as well. But I think he is very well thought of, Alavi, for what that's worth. But then, you know, so was Monchi for a time. I mean, it feels like Villa, obviously, they went on a really good run at the end of last season. But then lost at United on the final day, which cost them a Champions League spot, which obviously then impacts. What could have been. And they kind of almost gambled to even get in that position because they had Asensio and Rashford on loan, which wasn't cheap.

49:25and it almost worked but then it didn't quite and it feels like they're very much spiralling and I think it was Enrique who said that it was Villa who gave them the hardest time in the Champions League last season and they did very nearly that second half was crazy that quarter final had them absolutely pinned back they're in action this evening as we record Thursday night at home to Bologna who they did beat 2-0 in the Champions League last season they'll face them this time in the Europa League Fulham meanwhile who who, unlike Aston Villa, are not down in 18th place, but are actually in 8th.

50:00You saw them last weekend against Brentford, Natalie. They were very good. Against Leeds, the match before that, they struggled to create a lot of chances, which did not happen against Brentford. They were in the front foot. We know how Fulham can be when they are in a good day. They can be so organized. They can be hard to break. and they have Kevin now, which Fulham fans are very excited about. He hasn't started a match yet. He had minutes against Leeds and against Brentford. So there is this expectation of him starting a match because he's that type of energetic player who likes the 1v1s and he just brings a different spark to a team that didn't make a lot of signings in the transfer window.

50:45So it is very significant. But I can see Fulham making life hard for Aston. I can see Fulham in a good day. I can see Fulham making life hard for everyone because they can be extremely well-organized and well-drilled. It's down to Marco Silva. He needs a lot of credit for that. But, yeah, should be good. Excellent. Excellent. That game, 2 o 'clock on Sunday. Saturday evening, meantime, we have another late game and it's Spurs against Wolves. So Wolves are only the sixth team in Premier League history to lose the first five games of a campaign. I don't know how many teams have done it in the entire history of English top-flight football, Duncan.

51:30You'll have your Loughboroughs and your Man Uteds in the early 30s. Really? Very bad stuff. Yeah, but it is pretty bad. Right. The record worst start for the Premier League is seven defeats, which is held jointly by that Crystal Palace. and Portsmouth. Wolves, you feel, have a good chance of making at least a six with their trip to Tottenham on Friday evening. Saturday. On Saturday evening, yeah, indeed so. Yeah. They've had some good wins against Spurs, though, at Spurs. Oh, yeah? Yeah, and they've won four of their last seven visits to Tottenham. Yeah, there you go. So for whatever reason, they have put in some pretty good performances there.

52:15And they did just knock out Everton in the Carabao Cup for what's that worth. Yeah, I mean, you would think Spurs would be too strong, but I think I mentioned this last week that with Thomas Frank, I think what's going to be interesting is that I think they'll be far better against the strongest teams like we saw them against Man City. They were brilliant. I think they might have a harder time in some of these home games against teams that want to sit deep and defend and ask them to unlock them. Is that Walsh? Well, I guess we'll see. But I think they will surely, just off the back of the start they've made, they'll at least try and be defensive for the start.

52:54Also interested to see if Xavi Simons is starting or where is he starting more precisely? Because against Brighton, he played as a 10 in the second half. And I like him there. I really like him there. He was really good, yeah. Yeah, he was really, really good. Jay Harris was saying this on Sunday. He came back from the game and that was his big takeaway. He has to start and he has to start at number 10. And if you look at the midfield options, if you have Palin and Bentancur is a very dense midfield, but you also have Papessar who's doing great this season. Bergvall, of course, and you have Simons and Kulusevski is recovering from injury.

53:30So when he's back, he also likes to play as a 10. So there are a lot of good signs, a positive perspective for Spurs midfield in terms of creation. Excellent. And up front, possibly your friend Richarlaton. Yes. Wolves are his favourite opponent. He scored six times against them. Oh, look at that. Good luck to Richie. Yeah, he started really well. Yeah. Unlike Wolves, who are possibly heading for a record of opening run of defeats. We'll be talking, by the way, in this week's Totally Extra about the Premier League's worst team ever and who they really are. It's not who you think. Unless you think you're dubbing, which goes, yeah, that's...

54:15You nailed it. It's them. I've just looked it up. Manchester United, 1930, 31. They lost their first 12 games this season. Yeah. Didn't win till November. I mean, even Ruben Amarim looks decent on that basis. You should mention that for a bit of contact. Yeah. Excellent. Chelsea are taking on Brighton, a game which is going to take place almost exactly a year after their last meeting at Stamford Bridge, which was a very memorable match, a record-breaking game. Natalie. Pick me, pick me. Yeah. I was doing that match. I think, oh God, I'm saying... So you were there for that game? Yeah, I was there for that game.

54:54I spoke to Cole Palmer. The Cole Palmer first half. Yes, exactly. When he scored four goals. This is what made history, right? Yeah. No one's ever scored four goals in the first half.

55:17And it was kind of a game changer for a poker of goals. Yes. And after that game, Brighton decided to drop the lines a little bit. Fabian Hürzler spoke about it afterwards. That was that game that made him, OK, we're not going to play this way. We need to be a little bit more conservative. So it was an important changing point to Brighton as well. Chelsea are not in terrific form right now. Had a bit of a scare against Lincoln midweek. They drew at Brentford. They lost to Bayern. They lost last weekend to Man United. They do get Robert Sanchez back, though. He only had a one-game suspension back from that red card, which is pretty good news given how Jorgensen's been looking between the post.

56:06Brighton, though... Yeah, whether players should be suspended for League Cup games from Premier League... Feels wrong. Yeah, it does feel a bit of a loophole that exists. Brighton have only managed one win so far in their five league matches. So, yeah, neither of them on great runs. I think that was the first and last time that Cole Palmer scored from a free kick. in the first time of the last time you've been thrown? Yeah, I'm trying to remember if he scored from a free kick after that, but I remember interviewing him afterwards and asking like, oh, how much practice do you put into this? Because it was a perfect free kick and he was like, no, no practice at all.

56:44I just rocked up. How do you find him, Natalie? He's famously like, you know, doesn't give loads away as an interviewee. How do you find him? Challenging to pick my words here. Yes, no. And for Natalie, that's the equivalent for most people to be like, awful what what's the challenge we call uh no it's just that like this uh this interview for example you you ask him that and he just gives you oh no i don't practice i didn't practice at all silence and then you're like okay so you didn't you just you just decided yeah no i just decided to go and take a shot and it worked right and you're like okay where do i go from that you get a lot of questions in like you know total questions yeah but a terrifying amount of Yes, yes.

57:28You're like, oh God, I've used up all 12 questions. Exactly. Every time I'm interviewing him, I'm like, okay, I need to prepare 15 questions for three minutes. And then I go and then you just go one after the other. Otherwise, it's just going to be blank, blank, blank. Which, in all your history of doing post-game or sideline interviews, which player was the nicest surprise? The nicest surprise on a post-match? God. Well, I remember when Ronaldo was about to retire. Phenomeno. Oh, yeah. Yes. Did you interview him? Yes. He played for Corinthians. But it was carnage. It was absolute carnage. Because in Brazil, you could enter the pitch to do the interviews.

58:07And it was just elbows everywhere. I knocked out a camera guy once. Not proud of it, but it was a matter of survival. I'm not a big person, you know, as you can. So you can understand. And Ronaldo couldn't move. So every post-match interview with Ronaldo. Because of the crowd or just generally? Because of the crowd. No, generally he was moving well. And so, yeah, that was big. Adriano as well, he was a good surprise. He was a really good surprise because I was working at a TV station that he didn't like. And he was right not to like them because they were very tough on him. They were very unfair to Adriano.

58:49And I remember asking him, could you give me a word? And he was like, are you from this TV station? I'm like, yes, I am. And he was like, I'm sorry, I don't speak to you, but nothing against you. So this is the example I always give to players not being... So he didn't speak to you? No, but you don't have to love it. But if you're nice enough about it, it's fine. And he was very respectful with everyone. This was Adriano throughout his career. OK, I'm not going to ask you who's the worst because you won't tell us. I'd have to think about it. But no, I wouldn't. While Natalie's pondering on that, we'll take a very quick break and then we'll come back with the other two games from this Premier League weekend.

59:34This is the Totally Football Show with James Richardson, part of the Athletic FC podcast network. Also this weekend in, I say other two games, there's actually three because I'd forgotten Monday night you've got Everton against West Ham, which Natalie you're going along to Graham Potter apparently will be making the journey as well despite some doubts after last weekend's defeat a lot of reports of West Ham contacting a variety of other exciting names including Slavin Bilic and Nuno Espirito Santo but latest word Duncan I'm not sure where the athletic is on this latest word is that the Hammers board are giving him the next two away games Everton and Arsenal and would then look to make a change in the next international break with no pressure no pressure yeah that's yeah that's kind of how it stands I feel like it's pretty rare managers once you know that they're down to like you have one more shot or two more shots but like they rarely then escape and go on to do well I'm sure it does happen from time to time but it also feels like if he's that close I mean how much do they really believe in him Alex Ferguson was the most like that like was so close to the axe many times and just about yeah did alright in the end so who knows what might what glories might await I'm not saying Graham Potter's going to win 13 Premier League titles with West Ham I'm not Potter does have I mean he West Ham beat Arsenal away last season and Potter has a good record at the end so maybe they won against Forrest didn't they precipitating a regime change there but yeah Everton with one or two issues of their own they've now lost two on the bounce although Well, we should mention, Everton fans are particularly unhappy with the team that Moyes put out for that Wolves-Carabao Cup game.

1:01:22Right. I have a very good friend who's an Everton fan, and he was very unhappy because it's a trophy this Everton team could target. I've never won the League Cup. No, but they could easily, with the first team they've got, they could challenge to win that. And their league is probably going to be mid-table? Yeah. I mean, they're not going to be... Well, we went out of the Carabao Cup early, so we came ninth instead of 11th. Yeah. I do get that Nati I'd be curious to hear about the media facilities at Everton given Goodison Park was always the most cramped especially those of us with quite long legs it was not roomy no yeah no definitely but people were very warm and welcoming they went out of their way to because they knew how that doesn't give you more space yeah exactly it did soften the blow but yeah they give you a metaphorical yeah hug See if you can get any of the blue aioli that they're serving up.

1:02:16Blue aioli? Yeah. Really? People thought it was ketchup at first, but it's not. Right. Very little about blue aioli would point to being a tomato-based condiment. Well, it's blue. I mean, it's quite hard to discern, I imagine. I suppose. All right, then. Nottingham Forest are up against Sandler. That's a 5.30 game on Saturday. Could well be quite an interesting one. I mean, it's a Postacoglu team, so they're usually fairly lively. And it's the first time that Ange will be at home in his new role after four straight away games. And Sunderland have been a real story. Sunderland, how did you, when you were explaining them to a Brazilian audience with ESPN Brazil, how did you explain Sunderland to her?

1:03:01You know, they are surprisingly popular because of the series, Sunderland Till I Die. Yes, yes, that had really good traction in Brazil. So, yeah, so when they came back to the Premier League, there was a positive movement from international fans because everyone loves an underdog. So, yeah. Definitely. These are black cats, of course, but the term still applies. Forrester conceded nine goals in four matches so far under Posto Goglu. That's a lot. Yeah. But not for him, I guess. It's good to see Manu Xhaka back in the Premier League. He's already got two assists for them in five games He's had two yellow cards.

1:03:40That's his standard ratio. So, yeah, I think the Sun and the Sun are probably the sort of feel-good story of the season so far. I mean, you feel good with brackets. They spent over£200 million on new players, but still. But we've been so stuck. Teams coming up have done so badly the last couple of years that I think everyone's desperate, even if it is off the back of spending a lot. It is refreshing. And also this weekend, there's a three o 'clock game, which you can't watch in the UK, between Leeds and Bournemouth. But Bournemouth, who sit fourth right now in the Premier League and will be bidding to become the first visiting team to score at Ellen Road this season.

1:04:16Leeds so strong at home. They haven't actually lost a game there in almost a year. Most of those fixtures, of course, in the championship, but still. 100 % winning record as well at home to Bournemouth in the history with seven wins out of seven. That's very much 100%. Very good. That's a game taking place this weekend. Bournemouth. Yeah. That's the word. They're good. They are really good, Bournemouth. I think we eulogise them most weeks. By all means, let's heap a little bit more praise on the Iriola bandwagon. They've got a chance. If we think top five again is Champions League, then I think Bournemouth have got a really good chance of finishing top five.

1:04:58All right. Are they currently third? Currently fourth. Fourth. But level on points with Arsenal and Spurs. Right. Okay. And this fixture leads physical strong side and Bournemouth also physical side, you know, like running up and down and depressing and everything. So, yeah, should be. Should be good. Yeah. Should be good. Excellent. Well, that game and all the other ones will be the subject of our Totally Football Show on Sunday evening. so do join us for that either on Sunday evening or listen to the podcast on Monday before that Saturday there'll be a totally extra which will feature Duncan and Charlie and also Stuart James will be joining us for that as we explore a little bit some of the teams for whom the Premier League has not been so kind and in particular yes that Derby County from 2007-2008 have a spin on that if you fancy Have a great weekend in any case, and we'll catch up with you soon on The Totally Football Show.

1:06:33The Athletic FC.