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Head Start

Craven Cottage Mansion

Fulham are revamping their Riverside Stand… and the new £100m redevelopment is - well - stunning. The west London side is introducing: 

• A swimming pool and sky deck overlooking their pitch.

• Two Michelin-star restaurants.

• A food and drink market called the Riverside Market.

Despite the wild architecture, the reasons for the development are quite sensible: 

• The stadium capacity will increase from 24,500 to 29,300.

• Dining will be open beyond matchdays, generating revenue even in the off-season.

• Fulham’s owner can take cool pictures from the rooftop pool in the summer. No questions asked.

All valid and sensible business decisions, if you ask us.

A London-based architect designed the renovation and was responsible for designing the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Sphere in Las Vegas… 

The only problem we see… the sky deck is opening this December, so we hope the swimming pool is heated.

Plus…

The Foreign Office warns UK fans that ‘beer in Germany is stronger than the UK’ ahead of Euro 2024 (More)

Former vice president of UEFA, Luis Rubiales, could face a prison sentence of two and a half years if convicted of kissing Jenni Hermoso during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England in the Women’s World Cup final (More)

Manchester City’s Kyle Walker is due to undergo a scan on his injured hamstring. He is rated 50/50 for their game against Arsenal this weekend (More)

Throwback Thursday

It feels like conspiracy theories are at an all-time high. And with Liverpool currently joint-top of the league, we thought it was a good time to revisit the club’s asthma conspiracy… 

In case you don’t know the story: an article in 2020 quoted a “source close to the club” (always a red flag) who “reveals” that 22 members of Liverpool’s 35-man first-team are asthmatic.

The reason? Well, players with asthma are allowed to use substances to support their condition.

Anyway, if the “sources” quoted were correct, then 63% of Liverpool’s squad suffer from asthma. The national average is 12%. Sounds fishy, right? 

Not quite. 

Firstly, there’s no evidence that the 63% figure is correct. Actually, Dr Peter Brunker, Head of Sports Medicine and Science at Liverpool F.C. shared a figure that was closer to 25% in 2011 and Professor John Dickinson said it’s around 27.8% in 2022.

But, listen to this… even if the 63% exercise-induced asthma stat were true, it’s still not unreasonable. Why?

• In other sports, like swimming, the % of exercise-induced asthma is around 70%.

• Footballers train at high intensity and expose their airways to cold dry air. 

• The amount of medication required to enhance performance would still be flagged by anti-doping authorities - asthmatic or not. 

Conspiracy debunked!

Off The Pitch

🌕 Brands will be able to advertise on the Moon by 2026 (More)

😬 The Conservative party has deleted ‘London crime’ video that used footage of the New York Metro (More)

🦔 Rescued baby hedgehog turns out to be a hat bobble (More)

🎾 World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has ended his highly successful partnership with Croatian coach Goran Ivanisevic (More)

🇺🇸 Beyoncé unveils her new country album Cowboy Carter track list including a cover of Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ (More)

🤖 As many as 8 million UK workers are at risk of losing their jobs to AI (More)

Stat of the Week

Arsenal’s recent Premier League form is no coincidence. 

The second-ball* analysis graph sets Arteta’s side out as an outlier. More specifically, it shows that Arsenal…

• ... win roughly 75% of second balls.

• … have the least amount of second-ball situations per game.

Impressively, when Arsenal win the second ball, they retain it and continue to dominate possession on the deck. No other team does this better in the league - yup, not even City. 

Look, it’s completely against our Route One philosophy, but we can’t help but think it’s working well for the Gunners. We’ll concede for once. 

*Second ball refers to flick-ons and knockdowns from crosses or long balls when the ball is still there to be won. (We got you).

Extra Time

One man hilariously impersonates all the Klopp tributes… Jose, Ole, Keane and Carra all make an appearance.

A map… of nations who have not qualified for the Euros in the 21st century. 

Something tells us Pep is up to no good. Several Manchester City players suffered last-minute ‘physical problems and injuries’ during the international break.

Could Mesut Ozil have given more at Arsenal? Lineker, Shearer and Micah have their say. 

Work this one out… everyone’s talking about the ‘glitch’ in Wolves' clip (skip to 22 seconds).

Recent Hall of Fame inductee Ashley Cole names his all-time team-mate XI. Safe to say… he’s played with some of the best Premier League players of all time. 

Game Face On

Question: Who am I? I have played for Chelsea and spent time playing in Turkey. I've been crowned African Footballer of the Year four times and the Africa Cup of Nations twice.

Hint: I’m the only player to win two back-to-back trebles for two different clubs.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL 

Womens UEFA Champions League: Barcelona Women vs SK Brann Women (17:45 GMT, DAZN & TNT Sports 2)

Womens UEFA Champions League: PSG Women vs BK Hacken Womens (20:00 GMT, DAZN & TNT Sports 1)

TENNIS

ATP: Miami Open (16:30 GMT, Sky Sports Main Tennis)

GOLF

PGA: Shell Houston Open (20:00 GMT, Sky Sports Golf)

BASKETBALL

NBA: New Orleans Pelicans vs Milwaukee Bucks (00:00 GMT, TNT Sports 2)

COMBAT

Boxing: Carrillo vs Rankin (01:00 GMT, DAZN)

HOCKEY

NHL: Multiple Matches (23:00 GMT, Viaplay)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer: Samuel Eto’o

“I was really surprised when The FA knocked on my doorbell.”

-Michael Owen