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Final deciders
📺 Ligue 1 broadcast woes | Copa America brawl | FPL price reveals
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Head Start
Euro 2024 final: Spain vs England
Spain and England meet on Sunday to crown the winner of Euro 2024.
Going into the final, Spain are favourites according to Opta’s Supercomputer - it predicts that La Roja have a 60.38% chance of trumping England.
The spread betting markets project a similar fate…
… and, on paper, the predictions are warranted.
Yes, Spain have scored the most goals (12), have the best xG (10.9) and have won six games in a row.
Oh, and not to mention that Spain and Spanish teams have won all 26 major finals that they’ve played since 2002.
That stat alone should have Gareth Southgate at least slightly worried.
But it’d be foolish to rule out England…
They’ve had the best defence in the tournament, giving up the fewest shots and each shot they’ve face has had an average quality of 0.09 xG.
They’ve shown they aren’t phased by adversity… having come from behind in both the quarter and semi-final.
With the way England have got results, there’s more than a hint of Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid about them.
Copa America 2024 final: Argentina vs Colombia
This final is unlikely to be as dramatic as the semi-final between Uruguay and Colombia, which saw Darwin Nunez and his teammates involved in a brawl with fans.
But it’s still going to be an interesting contest.
While Opta predicts that Argentina have a 62.9% chance of winning the game, it may be closer than that stat gives credit.
Colombia has stood its ground against the reigning World champions, having gone unbeaten in their last four Copa America meetings against Argentina…
… although Argentina advanced in penalty shootouts in two of those draws.
Los Cafeteros - nicknamed due to their infamous coffee production - have also scored more goals (12) than Argentina (8) at Copa America 2024, and have made 0 defensive errors, compared to Argentina’s 3.
No doubt Argentina haven’t been at their best in this tournament, but they haven’t reached the final in six of their last eight major tournaments for nothing.
They have talent and experience beyond belief.
Plus…
Manchester United agree £35.3m deal for Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee (More)
Matchday 5 of the Women’s European Championship 2025 qualifiers start today (More)
Virgil van Dijk said he will consider his club and international future following Netherlands’ Euro 2024 semi-final defeat (More)
Erling Haaland is set to become the most expensive Fantasy Premier League asset ever at £15 million, track the remaining live price reveals using the link (More)
Chris Kirchner, who nearly bought Derby County and Preston North End, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud (More)
Yesterday’s Poll
Yesterday, we asked you: Who do you think is going to win Euro 2024? And why?
Routers voted 59% in favour of Spain taking the glory.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🇪🇸 Spain (59.2%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🏴 England (41%)
Your punditry takes:
🇪🇸 Alen V voted ‘Spain’: “Spain have players on the bench who can play the same way like players from starting 11 and they have clear vision of tactics and how to play.”
🇪🇸 Gerry B voted ‘Spain’: “Simple they have played the best football all tournament and won ALL their games. It would be a travesty for football if they do not and England win by default ie dodgy decision.”
🏴 Ian B from Norwich voted ‘England’: “England now have momentum and belief which are the two main commodities required in tournament football.”
🏴 Denny W voted for ‘England’: “England's young players have come of age in this tournament and will prove that they are among the best players in the World by beating one of the best teams in the World right now.”
And one that made us laugh from Balks C… “Another ‘’S’ to bite the dust!”.
Take a guess as to who they voted to win.
Ligue 1
French league still can’t find a broadcaster
The French league is struggling to find a broadcaster for the upcoming 2024/25 season - and there are only six weeks until the start of the season.
As football clubs rely on broadcast revenue, many teams in France will be left in financial peril…
… and without certainty over their financial position, it’s likely that French clubs won’t be too busy in this summer’s transfer window.
It’s not a good look for the league that already has the lowest domestic and overseas broadcast revenue amongst Europe’s top five…
Financial Times
With the likes of Kylian Mbappé out of the picture, the question begs: In just six weeks, how will French league executives convince broadcasters to take a punt?
Well, some streaming platforms are open to talks, but it’s hard to negotiate well from a desperate position…
DAZN has offered to buy the majority of games but the amount paid will be staggered and linked to subscriber growth.
BeIN is said to want to buy a small block of games but only if another broadcaster takes the leap of faith with them.
And like the coolest kid at the school disco, Amazon is playing hard to get.
Here’s the most interesting part.
French league executives are also considering an ambitious proposal to create a new direct-to-consumer streaming service for Ligue 1 games.
If this is the case - and it turns out to be successful - it could encourage other European league operators to do the same.
But six weeks to build a broadcast infrastructure from scratch isn’t enough time.
You know what they say… Rome wasn’t built in a day. And neither was Amazon, DAZN, Sky, BeIN, and any other broadcast behemoth.
Off The Pitch
😆 Hotel looking to hire ‘banter merchant’ ahead of Edinburgh Festival Fringe (More)
🔫 Protestors in Barcelona squirt water pistols at tourists (More)
🎉 Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has hinted at a bank holiday should England win Euro 2024 (More)
🤔 Elon Musk beats $500 million severance lawsuit by former Twitter employees (More)
🤖 The first Miss AI has been crowned (More)
☀️ Las Vegas records an all-time high heat of 120F (48.8 C) this past week (More)
Around The Football World
🏴 Manchester United appoint Rene Hake and Ruud van Nistelrooy as assistant managers of the men’s first team, to work under Erik ten Hag until June 2026 (More)
🇺🇸 Jurgen Klopp has rejected an approach from the USA to become their manager (More)
🇩🇪 João Palhinha has joined Bayern Munich from Fulham on a four-year contract (More)
🇪🇸 Real Madrid fans face a month delay for Kylian Mbappe shirts (More)
🌎 Jude Bellingham will be the cover star of EA video game FC 25 (More)
Extra Time
Darwin Nunez fought with the Colombian crowd after causing harm to the Uruguay players’ family…
… and here’s another angle.
Jose Gimenez’s post-match rant after Uruguay’s semi-final with Colombia.
England fans serenade a German officer who looks eerily like Gareth Southgate.
Adele yells ‘shut up’ to the crowd as they watch England score a penalty.
Ten players who shone at Euro 2024.
Kevin Campbell describes playing with Wayne Rooney when he was 14 years old.
Game Face On
Question: Jude Bellingham won his 35th cap for England. Who are the only two players to have won more England caps while playing for non-British clubs?
Hint: They both played at Manchester United at one point in their career.
Scroll below for the answer.
On This Weekend
FOOTBALL
Friday 12
Womens European Championship 2025 qualifiers: all fixtures here.
Saturday 13
Sunday 14
TENNIS
Saturday 13
Wimbledon: Womens Singles Final (13:30 BST)
Sunday 14
Mens Singles Final (13:30 BST)
*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.
Answer
David Beckham (55) and Owen Hargreaves (39).
Hottest Take of the Day
The Hottest Take of the Day is submitted by John K from Illinois: Colombia will overcome Argentina in the Copa final. Argentina haven’t looked as good as in recent years and Colombia’s defence was supreme last night. I cannot wait! Bring it on!
Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.
I just hope they finally let my son come on the f------ pitch!