Forest vs PGMOL

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Arsenal vs Chelsea

Tonight - 20:00 BST - TNT Sports

Ahhhh. A mid-week clash to get excited about. 

There is a lot on the line for this game…

• Arsenal can’t afford to lose points if they want to contend for the title. 

• Chelsea will be fighting for European football next season.

(It’s a long shot… but crazier things have happened).

History and stats point towards lost points for… close your eyes Arsenal fans - both sides.

Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons:

• The reverse fixture in October saw a 2-2 draw. 

• Chelsea’s last three away games have finished level. 

• Seven of their 11 Tuesday 8 pm kick-off meetings have ended in a draw.

But, there is one thing that could make the difference between the two.

No - it’s not that Pochettino has never won at the Emirates - but actually something way more detrimental to Chelsea…

… their main man Cole Palmer is likely to miss the game due to illness.

Yup. Without the 20-goal-season difference maker, Arteta’s men will feel more confident that they can secure the full three points.

Expect goals. Expect drama. And expect a whole lotta chaos. Not one to miss.

• Arsenal Quick-Hit 💉: Arsenal could lose successive home league games for the first time since April 2022. 

• Chelsea Quick-Hit 💉: Chelsea haven’t beaten Arsenal on a Tuesday 8 pm kick-off since March 1993.

Plus…

John Terry and Andrew Cole are the latest players to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame (More)

A Spanish stats website claims that if La Liga had goal-line technology it would have ruled Lamine Yamal’s effort as a goal (More)…

… Barcelona are considering taking legal action over the ‘phantom goal’ (More)

West Ham are exploring the option of Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim replacing David Moyes (More)

Forest vs PGMOL

Release the tapes…?!

Dear PGMOL, Change your rules or else. Love, from Nottingham Forest.

Over the weekend, Forest posted a statement on X accusing the PGMOL of ignoring their request to remove the VAR, who was a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town.

The club has since asked the PGMOL to release the audio recording between match officials.

And… they want the PGMOL to consider “contextual rivalries” - not just local rivalries - when selecting officials for a game.

The Premier League bit back yesterday… 

It was even juicer when the BBC got involved and said that Forest didn’t ask for Stuart Attwell to be taken off VAR duties.

Ahh a game of he said, she said. 

Anyway, while Forset’s initial Tweet was - well - a little immature, they have a point. 

There’s only one way to settle this… make the evidence (Forest’s request and the in-game VAR audio) public.

Until then, it’s hard to say how this saga ends. But we have a feeling this won’t be the last Tweet. Grab the popcorn. And get cosy.

Game In Numbers

Only time will tell if Trossard (and Jota) are the best finishers

Let’s start with a cliché for you: scoring is the most difficult part of the game.

Find yourself a brilliant finisher and that’s half of your problems sorted, right? 

A few players have emerged as clinical finishers this season…

But there’s a new finisher in town… Leandro Trossard.

The Telegraph pulled together stats which show that the Belgian is Arsenal’s best finisher - by some distance:

Trossard is (slowly, but surely) establishing himself as Arteta’s first-choice pick. And it’s easy to see why…

• No Arsenal player has better shooting accuracy than him (57%)... 

• … and the same goes for his shot conversation rate (24%).

It’s even more impressive when you realise he’s scoring with both feet. 

Look, we don’t like to spoil the party, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves… just yet.

Why? Because the ‘best finishers’ also have played the least minutes…

… only two of the seven ‘best finishers’ in the league make it into the top 20 attackers for minutes played and shots taken: Haaland and Isak.

In fact, Trossard has 1,600 fewer minutes (around 17 games) than Saka, Odegaard and Havertz. 

And the ‘most clinical’ players have the least minutes because… 

… (flicks through old science textbook)...

… the sample size is smaller, producing more random results.

Only with more minutes will we be able to see if Trossard - and Jota, for that matter - can maintain their unbelievable finishing stats.

Off The Pitch

🍦Milan to ban ice cream sales after midnight to help its sleep-deprived residents (More)

🐬 Dolphins spotted swimming in River Thames after making their way to London (More)

🍿 Deadpool & Wolverine trailer has been released showing Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as frenemies (More)

😬 David Beckham sues Mark Wahlberg after claiming he was left £8.5m out of pocket after promoting the movie star’s fitness brand (More)

⛰️ Letters from Britain’s most famous Mount Everest climber have been published 100 years on from his disappearance (More)

🚗 Tesla cuts prices in the US, China and Germany as demand falls (More)

Around The Football World

🇮🇹 Inter Milan sealed their 20th Italian title by beating bitter rivals AC Milan. The match ended 2-1 in favour of Inter Milan and saw three red cards in stoppage time (Highlights)

🇪🇸 Xavi is ready to stay as Barcelona's head coach and a meeting is set to take place between the club’s board to analyse the situation (More)

🇮🇹 Former Ballon d’Or winner Fabio Cannavaro is set to be appointed as head coach of Italian side Udinese (More)

🇫🇷 Cardiff City is taking legal action against FC Nantes, seeking €120.2m following a study suggesting they had a 54.2% chance of avoiding relegation with Emiliano Sala (More)

🇩🇪 Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel is set to leave the German giants at the end of the season and will be seeking a return to the Premier League (More)

Extra Time

Sir Alex Ferguson’s reaction after he won the Scottish Cup with Aberdeen.

Manchester United fans were spotted sprinting back into Wembley after Coventry City’s 121st-minute ‘winner’ was cancelled out by VAR.

Jose Mourinho says he’s open to working for clubs that will set him fair targets…

… Simon Jordon and Graeme Souness debate if Jose should be Liverpool’s next manager.

Girls football team goes the whole season unbeaten in boys’ league.

Pascal Gross is Brighton’s secret weapon.

Jurrien Timber scores for U21s just 9 minutes after returning from injury.

Game Face On

Question: How many goals did Chelsea concede in their record-breaking 2004/05 campaign?

Hint: It was prime Mourinho - wink wink.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Championship: Leicester City vs Southampton (20:00 BST, Sky Sports Football)

Coppa Italia: Lazio vs Juventus (20:00 BST, Premier Sports 1)

Premier League: Arsenal vs Chelsea (20:00 BST, TNT Sports 1)

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

Answer: 15

“When they don’t score, they hardly ever win.”

-Michael Owen