📈 Title trajectory

GM football fans. Route One here, we deliver fresh football insights like it's the first day of the month - just without the pinch or the punch.

All feedback will be read at [email protected].

Head Start

Snooze-fest changes title trajectory… 

It’s safe to say… the biggest game of the season was - um - a letdown. 

The game’s silver linings? 

• It was an excellent opportunity to catch up on some missed Daylight saving sleep… hoooonk mimimimi hooooonk mimimimi. 

• It gave the brightest nerds Opta Analyst a chance to reassess who’s going to win the league…

… and with City vs Arsenal ending in a 0-0 draw, Opta now thinks that the club with the best chance of winning in the Premier League is… drum roll, please…

… Liverpool.

And the stats based on spread betting markets agree… 

While it might seem obvious as Liverpool are in pole position following their 2-1 win over Brighton, it’s the first time this season that Manchester City aren’t favourites to win the league.

But, Liverpool fans can’t get carried away just yet… 

• Arsenal will feel confident that, of their remaining fixtures, they won all of last season’s corresponding games (except United away).

• Manchester City will feel confident that they have (arguably) the best fixtures on paper.

Side note: In Friday’s edition, one of our writers said that Manchester City vs Arsenal was going to be - I quote - “a biggun”.

You’ll be pleased to know that we sacked him right after the final whistle. 

Ok. Maybe not. We’re not even sure that’s legal. 

But, as it didn’t deliver on its promise, here are some clips from the game to cheer you up:

• Roy Keane says that Erling Haaland’s link-up play is “almost like a League 2 player” (Watch)

• Richard Keys is annoyed at Pep Guadiola’s “tiresome” camera work (Watch)

• Arsenal Fan TV celebrate their side’s draw unashamedly (Watch)

Matchday 30 Stats Zone

Liverpool 2 - 1 Brighton

→ Liverpool has secured the most points (26) from losing positions in the league this season. Spurs are second with 22.

→ Alexis Mac Allister has provided as many assists for Liverpool in the Premier League (5 in 24 games), as he did for Brighton in 98 games. 

Manchester City 0 - 0 Arsenal

→ Manchester City and Arsenal played out a goalless draw for the first time since January 2011, with each of the last 33 meetings between the two sides in all competitions seeing at least one goal before today.

→ City have failed to score at home for the first time in 47 straight league matches.

Brentford 1 - 1 Manchester United

→ Brentford had 85 touches in the Manchester United box. That’s the most by a team in any Premier League match across the last three seasons. 

→ Brentford’s record against the current top six this season is - well - not great: 10 games. 9 defeats. 1 draw. 0 wins.

For Matchday 30 full results click here.

Loan Watch

Tik-ing Off Birmingham fans

Birmingham loanee Oliver Burke has his fans riled.

Why?

Well, his side sits one place above the Championship relegation zone without a win in 7 games. But Burke is having a blast on TikTok with his fiancé…

• Cooking her toad-in-the-hole.

• Featuring as her dancing partner.

• And filming their proposal Usher-style.

I mean what is life all about, ey? We’ve all been love-struck and your team struggling doesn’t mean your whole life should stop.

But… it has made the fans question the teams’ loaned players:

"It sums up everything that’s wrong with loan players, the lack of connection to our club and the fans," a Birmingham fan Tweeted.

No matter if he is right or wrong… we have a feeling Oliver and Megan will have to get used to Frankfurter-in-the-hole once he’s shipped back to Werder Bremen.

Off The Pitch

🐆 David Attenborough’s new series Mammals reveals a world-first African leopard hunt in total darkness (More)

🏠 Property owner stunned after $500,000 house built on wrong plot (More)

🍔 Iceland has not had a McDonald’s since October 2009 (they hate fast food) but they’ve kept the last cheeseburger sold on display in a museum (More)

🎤 Singer Lizzo quits music after citing online criticism she’s faced (More)

🧠 Human brains have increased by 6.6 per cent over the last 75 years (More)

🚘 Police failed to catch any criminals who stole a car in 100 neighbourhoods across England and Wales (More)

Around The Football World

🇪🇸 Real Madrid go 8 points clear of La Liga after their 2-0 win over Athletic Club last night. Rodrygo scored both goals to seal the win.

🇩🇪 Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel says their title hopes are over after the club’s 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund. Bayer Leverkusen go 13 points clear at the top (More)

🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique still holds hope that Kylian Mbappé could “change his mind” and stay at the French club, despite being linked with a move to Real Madrid (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 With 131 goals and counting, Rangers captain and defender James Tavernier has smashed the British record (More)

🇸🇦 Al-Hilal have broken the record for most consecutive wins (30) in football history after their 3-4 victory vs Al Shabab.

Extra Time

West Ham fans were shouting abuse at Kalvin Phillips. So he responded the only way possible… 

TNT Sports presenter Lynsey Hipgrave said something she shouldn’t… and the boys don’t know where to look.

Imagine knocking out two of your teammates with one free-kick. Yup - that’s what this Hibernian player did.

Left-footed rocket goes viral… is this goal of the season so far?

Premier League tickets aren’t cheap, but Brentford's home end is a tourist trap. Watch as the ‘home’ crowd jumped to celebrate Man United’s goal. 

Chelsea women's manager Emma Hayes was not happy. She shoved opposition manager Jonas Eidevall after the final whistle.

Game Face On

Question: Which two players have won the joint-most Premier League Player of the Month awards?

Hint: Think… goals.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Championship: Leicester City vs Norwich City (12:30 BST, Sky Sports)

Championship: Stoke City vs Huddersfield Town (15:00 BST, Sky Sports)

Championship: Leeds United vs Hull City (20:00 BST, Sky Sports)

La Liga: Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid (20:00 BST, viaplay)

Seria A: Cagliari vs Hellas Verona (14:00 BST, TNT Sports 2)

Seria A: Lecce vs Roma (17:00 BST, TNT Sports 2)

Combat

WWE: WWE Late Night Raw (00:00 BST, TNT Sports 1)

NHL

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

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

Answer: Harry Kane & Sergio Aguero

“I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league.”

-Mark Veduka