The Fußball Chatter

The UEFA Champions League makes its return as the first round of group games taking place on the 6th and 7th of September. This season's Champions League is going to be very different. Due to the World Cup taking place in November, all group games will be held from the 6th-7th of September to the 1st-2nd of November. Within the space of just two months, congesting the fixture list. Here is a preview of all eight groups and where they will likely finish by November. GROUP A: AJAX, LIVERPOOL, NAPOLI & RANGERS Group A would be interesting given all four teams' changes during the off-season. Ajax retained their Eredivisie title but many of their key players and manager Erik ten Hag have all left the Johan Cruyff Arena. Now, they have Alfred Schreuder as their new manager and had their biggest transfer spree ever . Despite experiencing these situations occasionally, the heavy turnover plus the change of manager could hamper their chances of making out of the group but Ajax wil...

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION - 10TH The darlings of the football analytics, Brighton is that team that plays good football which is reflected in the numbers but is not seen in how many points they get. In a way, it shows how far Brighton has come since gaining promotion five years ago. Last season was their best showing in the top flight in general, finishing in 9th, with their 4-0 home win against Manchester United the biggest highlight of the season for the Seagulls . So far, there has been little turnover with Yves Bissouma their only departure though there has been speculating whether defender Marc Cucurella will leave, amid speculation of joining Manchester City or Chelsea. Regardless, Brighton at their best can give anyone a game even those at the top. The main concern for Brighton is their ability to score goals. Brighton ranked high in the top ten in terms of shot-creating actions and shots but had the fifth-worst attack last season. Potter's tactical flexibility is a major r...

  Premier League Nine games were played in the Premier League this past weekend, with 21 goals scored. The biggest clash in the English top-flight was the North London Derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates. Arsenal went out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Martin Odegaard and Alexandre Lacazette. Spurs went in front thanks to a wonderful rabona goal from Erik Lamela, who later got sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Another wonderful goal was scored by Dwight McNeil for Burnley in their 2-1 win against Everton at Goodison Park. The Burnley wide-player breezed past Allan before curling the ball past Jordan Pickford. Chris Wood also scored for Burnley with Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled one back for the Toffees . Kelechi Iheanacho scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Leicester City trashed Sheffield United 5-0. The Nigerian, who scored in Leicester's last two, was too much for the Blades , with Jamie Vardy acting as a perfect foil. His third was...

  Bundesliga 20 goals were in the Bundesliga this past weekend with six teams keeping clean sheets. RB Leipzig kept the pressure on Bayern Munich in the title race, winning away at Freiburg 3-0 with Nkunku, Sorloth and Forsberg scoring. That put Leipzig top of the Bundesliga before Bayern's game against Borussia Dortmund in Der Klassiker . There was early trouble for Bayern when Erling Haaland scored twice for Dortmund in the first ten minutes. Bayern initially clawed back, winning the game 4-2 with Robert Lewandowski scoring a hat-trick, taking his goal tally to 31 this season. Three goals off his total of last season. Borussia Monchengladbach has been on a bad run of form with no wins in their last four games. That run continued following a 1-0 home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, dropping down to 10th in the league table, seven points behind Leverkusen. Hertha Berlin scored two late goals to win the game 2-1 against Augsburg, their first win since January with two late goals from Du...

Premier League Action  Forty-one goals were scored in the matchday 4 of the Premier League, with another string of weird results. The biggest result was Aston Villa 's incredible 7-2 win against Liverpool on Sunday at Villa Park. Ollie Watkins bagged a first Premier League hat-trick with Jack Grealish, and John McGinn scoring as well. This is Liverpool's worst league defeat in over fifty years, as the Reds were second best in everything they did on Sunday. Another big result was Manchester United losing 6-1 at Old Trafford to Tottenham on Sunday. Son Heung-Min, and Harry Kane scored a brace each as Spurs got their biggest result against Manchester United in the Premier League era while Jose Mourinho got his first win against United since departing the club in December 2018. United played much of the game with ten players as Anthony Martial received a red card for a punch on Erik Lamela. Everton are they only team with a perfect record so far, as they beat Brighton 4-2 with Jame...

SOUTHAMPTON. FINAL POSITION: 10TH Southampton finished 11th last season but following their 9-0 home defeat to Leicester City, staying up for the Saints would have been enough to make it a successful season. They did not get themselves in a relegation battle as Southampton finished the season on a high. Ralph Hassenhuttl has already made plans for the coming season, signing Ghanaian defender Mohammed Salisu and English defender Kyle Walker-Peters. They have lost midfield stalwart Pierre-Emile Højbjerg to Spurs, Mario Lemina moved to Fulham, Cédric and Maya Yoshida have all moved away from St. Mary. Danny Ings had an incredible season, scoring 22 goals with only Jamie Vardy scoring more. However, he was the only Saints player to score ten goals or more with James Ward-Prowse and Stuart Armstrong the next top scorers with only 5 each. Much more will have to come from Che Adams, who had a poor debut season in the Premier League but finished off last season quite well. Hassenhuttl has ...

Tottenham Hotspur. Potential Finish: 3rd. Final Position: 6th Tottenham has had one of the best teams over the past five years that often challenged for the title, consisting of the likes of Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Mousa Dembélé, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane. They had a fantastic run to the Champions League Final last year but their results at the end of last season masked the problems the Lilywhites had. After their defeat in the final, it was clear that the team did not recover from the final and it looked like the team had reached its zenith. Their poor form at the start of the season led to the firing of Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho was appointed to take his place. Christian Eriksen left the club in January and injuries to Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min close to the end of the season made Spurs' run-in look blink. They were fortunate that the lockdown occurred which enabled them to have a fit squad when the season resumes. Tanguy Ndombele...