New Prem rules

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering the rules for the Premier League, a new era for women’s football and much more.

STATS

Manchester United vs Fulham (Today at 20:00 BST)

→ Manchester United will fancy their chances of opening with a win, considering they’ve lost just four of their 34 Premier League meeting with Friday’s opponents.

→ But having won at Old Trafford last season, Fulham are searching for back-to-back away victories over United for the first time in Premier League action.

Ipswich Town vs Liverpool (Saturday 17 at 12:30 BST)

→ Liverpool have a solid Premier League record at Portman Road, having never lost in five encounters there, winning three and drawing two.

→ Ipswich Town are unbeaten in their opening league match of the season in each of the last 10 campaigns.

Plus…

• Mauricio Pochettino has agreed to become the next head coach of the U.S. men’s national team (More)

• Lamine Yamal’s father has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in a car park fight in Spain (More)

• Ed Sheeran acquires minority stake in Ipswich Town (More)

• Sandro Tonali will be able to play again on August 28 after a 10-month suspension for betting (More)

• Ronaldinho’s son, Joao Mendes, has signed for Championship side Burnley (More)

PREMIER LEAGUE

New rules for the Premier League season

The new Premier League season starts today. 

Depending on what side of the fence you sit on, you’ll be pleased - or disappointed - to know that there are minimal changes to the rule book this season. But some changes could have a big impact on matches.

(Un)added time

The biggest change will come from added time - or the lack thereof.

Last season, the Premier League had a 38.4% increase in the average number of seconds played beyond 90 minutes, a record for the English top flight. In other words, matches were, on average, three minutes longer.

But, from this season, officials will only start adding time on 30 seconds after a goal is scored. Given that there were 3.28 goals scored per match last season on average, this change may result in a significant drop in stoppage time this season.

VAR

The Premier League has acknowledged that the VAR process wasn’t up to scratch last season.

• The average delay to a game for a single VAR check lasted 64 seconds last season - 20 seconds more than the season before.

• There were 31 incorrect uses of VAR last season - albeit 105 correct calls.

More a umpire than a referee: The League is now putting more emphasis on the on-field referee’s decision in the upcoming season. The so-called ‘referee’s call’ will mean that VAR will intervene less and the on-field referee will have the final call when overturning a decision.

Interestingly, when a referee is sent to view the monitor, they will always be shown replays at full speed - a slowed-down replay will only be used to establish the point of contact.

Going forward: While fans are demanding rugby-style live on-mic VAR decisions, Premier League managers blocked the proposal as they think it would mean decisions take even longer, per The Telegraph. 

So… we won’t be seeing mic’d up referees any time soon, but at least we have the new X (Twitter) account giving live VAR updates, right?

POLL

HEAD START

🔵 American businessman considering Everton takeover. Crystal Palace shareholder John Textor has entered a period of exclusivity to pursue the purchase of Farhad Moshiri’s majority stake in Everton. Any potential deal is contingent on the 58-year-old selling his 45% stake in Crystal Palace, which he holds through his Eagle Football Group; Premier League rules forbid ownership of two clubs in the same division.

📹 Clubs told to tone down criticism of VAR. The Premier League have asked club managers and executives to tone down their criticism of VAR this season as they believe it helps foster an environment of negativity around the system. While there is an acceptance that managers will always disagree with the subjectivity of a decision, the Premier League wants to move away from bosses claiming they don't know how VAR works or don't understand the system.

🎈Tottenham suspend Yves Bissouma. Yves Bissouma has been suspended by Tottenham for one match after he filmed himself inhaling nitrous oxide. The 27-year-old apologised to his teammates for a “severe lack of judgement” but his manager Ange Postecoglu has said that he still needs to earn the trust of his teammates.

ENGLISH WOMEN’S FOOTBALL

English women’s top-tiers takeover complete

A new independent company has taken over the top two tiers of English women’s football, per Financial Times.

Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL) now controls the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship, in a major structural overhaul designed to unlock new commercial opportunities and grow the women’s game.

The government-backed review by former England player, Karen Carney, recommended that the women’s game needed a new company to focus solely on growing its popularity.

What does this actually mean?

Essentially, the WPLL is fully independent of the Football Association (FA) and has full control of the decision-making of the two top divisions. In the immediate future, it also means that:

• Each of the 23 clubs - 12 in the WSL and 11 in the Championship - own a stake of the company.

• The Premier League has given the WPLL a £20m interest-free loan, as well as offering advice and guidance on commercialisation.

• A new board has been founded to manage the body.

The next big milestone

Firstly, you’ll be pleased to know that the not-so-catchy ‘Women’s Professional Leagues Limited’ will be renamed at a later date.

But, most importantly: The WPLL will be in charge of negotiating a new broadcast deal. The current rights agreement with BBC Sport and Sky Sports expires at the end of the 2024-25 season.

With the 12 WSL clubs generating revenues of £48mn in 2022-23 - up 50% on the previous year - the WPLL will want to negotiate a deal well beyond the £8mn a year record broadcast revenue.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League: Newly promoted Ipswich Town sign Kalvin Phillips on a season-long loan (More) | West Ham name Jarrod Bowen as the new club captain (More)

🇩🇪 Bundesliga: 19-year-old Antonio Nusa joins RB Leipzig from Brüge (More)

🇪🇸 La Liga: Striker Bojan Miovski has left Aberdeen for a club-record fee of £6.8mn and joined Spanish side Girona (More)

🇺🇸 MLS: LA Galaxy announce the signing of free-agent and former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marco Reus (More)

OFF THE PITCH

🪨 Stonehenge’s Altar Stone came from Scotland, new research shows (More)

🌍 First case of more contagious mpox found outside Africa (More)

🚀 NASA says two stuck astronauts may stay in space until February (More)

😬 Arrest made over the death of the actor Matthew Perry (More)

✅ Number of top A-level grades rise (More)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Best start to the Premier League. Chelsea’s run of nine wins to begin the 2005-06 season remains the best start to a campaign in Premier League history. Before their achievement, the record stood at six – it was a landmark they ultimately cruised past.

Liverpool in 2019-20 went closest to equalling the Blues’ record. In the season that finally saw them win their first Premier League title, the Reds began with eight victories on the bounce before being held to a 1-1 draw by Manchester United.

Source: Opta

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Would you travel to watch an official league game abroad?

Routers voted that they wouldn’t travel to a league game abroad.

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🛩️ Yes, get me on the plane... (29%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🏠 Nope, I wouldn't... (71%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🏠 James M voted ‘Nope’: “Ridiculous idea. If they want international club games with actual stakes then it should be things like the Community Shield, or the finals of the cups, not league games. Completely removes the "home field" advantage of the home team for one of their games, which is totally unfair.”

• 🏠 James D voted ‘Nope’: “Absolutely not. Home advantage will be lost. This is about money, not the fans. No fans, no game.”

• 🛩️  Gerry B voted ‘Yes’: “Chance to see another country and have a holiday at the same time same as if your team qualifies for the Champions League etc.”

• 🛩️  Meyer N voted ‘Yes’: “I would fly anywhere to watch Ipswich Town.”

EXTRA TIME

The first-ever Premier League goal scored.

ESPN’s European kit ranking.

Michael Olise doesn’t like answering questions.

The FPL champions team selection for Gameweek 1. 

Who will win the Premier League Golden Boot in 2024-25?

Yaya Toure coaching Tottenham U16’s in an 8v4 possession game.

Manager with the most trophies in Real Madrid history.

Lee Carseley’s first interview as interim head coach of England.

A church leader warned Victor Osimhen not to join Chelsea. 

Simon Jordan calls Crystal Palace's Steve Parish out for not telling the truth.

Long read: Ligue 1 is back with a lack of star power and exacerbated financial imbalances.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which team has scored the most penalties in Premier League history?

Bonus: How many penalties have they scored?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

FOOTBALL

Premier League

• Manchester United vs Fulham (20:00 BST)

Full Premier League fixture list for the weekend here.

EFL Championship

• Coventry vs Oxford (20:00 BST)

 La Liga

• Celta Viga vs Alavés (18:00 BST)

• Las Palmas vs Sevilla (20:30 BST)

Ligue 1

• Le Havre vs PSG (19:45 BST)

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

Answer

Chelsea have scored the most penalties - 152. 

Liverpool are second with 146, Manchester United are third with 138, Arsenal are fourth with 134 and Manchester City are fifth with 123.