PSG vs Bayern Munich (Champions League final) Betting Tips

bet365 champions league final

bet365 champions league final - win

Bet365 Champions League final risk free offer

I'll probably do 0.5 goals pre match then Real Madrid 2-1 or BTTS first half. You guys?
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Bet365 £50 In Play Offer - Champions League Final

Bet365 giving up to £50 in play on the champions league final if you place a bet before kick off up to £50. Any recommendations on what to bet on in play?
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£50 Bet365 Inplay offer on the Champions League final

Our beautiful darling of a bookie has got their Inplay offer on the Champions league final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. Has anyone else gotten the offer?
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Bet365 - Champions League Final in-play offer.

It has returned ladies and gentlemen.
http://www.bet365.com/extra/en/promotions/soccechampions-league-in-play-bet-offe
Guess we could use this thread as a place to post our picks for the big game :).
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Champions League Final: Bet365 users, what in-play will you bet on with your risk-free stake?

For Bet365 users who have made a pre-match bet up to £50 (and then possibly covered this stake with a different bookie) to access a risk-free in-play bet, which will be refunded up to £50 if it loses.
submitted by quizlamic to SoccerBetting [link] [comments]

Will there be a bet365 inplay offer on the champions league final?

I was just browsing and thought of a method to use if there was going to be another offer available on the final..
Pre-match = £50 on double chance 1/2 @ 1.25 >>> £62.50 returns if match is decided in 90min (£67.50 loss + £50 refunded = £17.50 loss )
Refundable inplay = £50 on Juve to win after extra time @ 23.00 >>> £1150 returns if juve win after 120min ( £130 stake = £1020 profit )
Seperate single bets (either on bet365 or another bookie):

Anyone have any ideas on how to tinker the method to avoid the £17.50 loss that arises if Barca or Juve win in 90min??

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Bet365 £50 Free Bet – Champions League Final

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Bet365 £50 Free Bet – Champions League Final

Bet365 £50 Free Bet – Champions League Final submitted by topcipher to Stuff [link] [comments]

Free inplay-bet on Bet365 for the German Champions League final on the 25th May 2013, Dortmund v Bayern

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Martin Samuel On Trippier Ban

Lump on. That is what the Football Association would like you to believe Kieran Trippier told his friends shortly before his move to Atletico Madrid. It implies a ring, a sting and big, big rewards, hence his 10-week ban. It was nothing of the sort.
Transcripts reveal a more earthbound reality. The circle trying to win a few quid, the player trying to be a pal. One of Trippier's mates asks if he should 'lump on' — the first time the phrase is used — and gets the reply: 'Can do mate.' Later, pressed, Trippier adopts the same turn of phrase. 'Lump on if you want mate,' he advises. It is the tamest of endorsements.
Yet, as the friends swiftly discover, lumping on really isn't an option. Bookmakers don't want anyone lumping on a transfer bet because the only person who would enter such an unpredictable market with cash and confidence is in the know. Nobody is betting big money on a hunch.
So it's a win-win. If the move collapses the bookmakers keep the cash, and if it delivers they have the safety net of football's governing body to do their dirty work, if betting patterns indicate prior knowledge. So one of Trippier's friends had his stake 'massively restricted', and another got £300 on, but only at odds of 1-6, giving bookmakers a liability of £50 and a red flashing light.
Some of the other bets were laughable: £8.75 at 1-2, liability £4.37; £20 at 1-2, liability £10; £20 at 1-3, liability £6.66; £25 at 8-13, liability £15.38. The biggest bets were undermined by short odds: £100 at 5-6, liability £83.33; £120 at 5-6, liability £100. Another bet of £300 at 4-11 gave the winner £109.09, while £80.34 was wagered at 3-10, a return of £24.10.
The significant numbers here are not being made off book-makers. 'Levy just wants £500,000 more,' Trippier told his acolytes at one stage. According to FA evidence, the fee was finally agreed with Tottenham for £25m, which rather puts that £4.37 into perspective, or even the big hit, £109.09. As does the £482m Denise Coates was paid as chief executive of Bet365 across two years between 2017 and 2019.
And, yes, it's the principle that counts, not the profit. Trippier should not have been sharing privileged information with people he must have reasonably assumed were using it for gambling purposes.
Yet, why, exactly? This isn't a match. He isn't affecting the outcome and therefore the integrity of a competition. Bookmakers have chosen to make a market on his life, and in doing so have placed him in jeopardy.
Who makes significant career decisions without discussing it with family or friends, without taking counsel, or offering progress reports? Trippier did not ask for this book to be opened, and receives no revenue from it. Maybe that is what should change.
The only way these bans and fines would be fair is if book-makers had to seek permission from the individuals involved, who would receive a cut of the revenue as part of their image rights. Then, if a player was found to be manipulating the market, or offering the inside track, it would be fraud and he could be penalised accordingly.
This is just the FA acting as bookies' muscle. If they didn't pursue cases against players such as Trippier and Daniel Sturridge, the gambling houses would soon tire of losing and the problem would go away. It is the FA that facilitates this by acting as enforcer — as if the grubby charade is any of their business.
This is now being tested. Atletico Madrid have challenged the ban which is suspended, pending appeal. The club will go to FIFA and then the Court of Arbitration for Sport if unsuccessful.
Their case is simple. They bought a player. They had nothing to do with a betting scandal that took place when he was still under contract to Spurs, or a punishment handed down from a different country. Had Trippier served it as administered, he would have missed 13 Atletico matches including the home Champions League fixture with Chelsea. As he would not even be allowed inside the training ground before March 1 — or to attend a game — his place in the Madrid derby scheduled for March 7 would have been in jeopardy, too.
And this is a huge season for Atletico. They top the table with a two-point lead and games in hand on Spain's big two. They could win LaLiga for only the second time since 1996 — and Trippier is their first-choice right back.
Certainly, it did not escape Atletico's attention that his ban did not impinge on any international fixtures, leaving the FA and English football unscathed. Atletico protested and FIFA listened. It could mean, if the punishment is delayed but upheld, that Trippier misses the European Championship. That leaked this week as if the FA were trying to put the frighteners on.
Yet, so what? It's their trumped-up ban. Given the friend-of-the-right-back's-cousin's-best-mate's-cleaning-lady source of transfer gossip is such a familiar trope, how preposterous is it that the FA make passing information a crime? Equally, why are they prioritising protecting the sanctity of an artificial betting market created to separate mugs from their money?
Unless some mug knows somebody, of course. Then, they'll refuse to pay, turn the source over to the beaks, and the FA will prosecute as if they've cracked the crime of the century. Strange, isn't it, that they're so fascinated by £4.37 — but rarely with the part where the real money gets made?
link if you want give click to the dm
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Carabao Cup 2020-21: Fixtures, teams, draw dates & all you need to know

The 2020-21 edition of theCarabao Cup began in August, withChampionship, League One and League Two sides entering the competition. Manchester City lifted their seventhCarabao Cup and third title in a row after beating Aston Villa in last season's final back in March. Goal has your complete guide, including participating teams, full draw information, fixture schedules and results.Carabao Cup formatCarabao Cup finalCarabao Cup semi-finalsCarabao Cup quarter-finalsCarabao Cup fourth roundCarabao Cup third roundCarabao Cup second roundCarabao Cup first roundCarabao Cup on TVCarabao Cup rulesAway goalsWhy is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?Past winners CarabaoCup 2020-21formatAll 92 clubs competingin the Premier League and the English Football League enter the 2020-21 CarabaoCup, with participation distributed across the divisions.The competition will be played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout.The previous two-legged tie for the semi-final was scrapped in favour of one.In round one, the draw was split into northern and southern clubs with 22 Championship sides and all League One and League Two clubs entering. Carabao Cup 2020-21 finalThe Carabao Cup 2020-21 final will be played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday April 25, 2021. It will kick off at 4pm GMT (11am ET)It had originally been scheduled for February 28, 2021, but the EFL made the decision to rearrange the date in order to increase the chances of supporters being able to attend.A statement released in December confirmed the news, saying: "It is the objective of the League to stage the final with as many supporters in attendance as possible and the decision has therefore been taken to move the final from its original date of SundayFebruary 28, 2021 to later in the year."The number of fans permitted will be dependent on government guidance in place at the time and it is hoped that moving the date to later in the year will give clubs and their fans the best opportunity to attend in person."Date Fixture Apr 25 Winner of semi-final 1 vs Winner of semi-final 2 Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finalsThe Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finals will be played from January 4, 2021, with the games being played over one leg rather than two to help with fixture congestion.Manchester United will host rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford in a huge derby encounter while Tottenham will host Championship outfit Brentford in north London.Date Fixture Jan 4(TBC) Manchester United vs Manchester City Jan 4 (TBC) Tottenham vs Brentford Carabao Cup 2020-21 quarter-finalsThe quarter-final ties will be played the week startingDecember 21.Manchester City compounded Mikel Arteta's woes by inflicting a 4-1 defeat on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, closing off a potential avenue for redemption for the Gunners boss.They were to be joined in the final four by local rivals Manchester United, who scored two late goals to see of Everton.Championship promotion contenders Brentford sprung a surprise by beating Newcastle United.Tottenham also faced Championship opposition in the form of Stoke City, beating them 3-1 at the bet365 Stadium.Date Fixture Dec 22 Brentford 1-0 Newcastle United Dec 22 Arsenal 1-4 Manchester City Dec 23 Stoke City 1-3 Tottenham Dec 23 Everton 0-2 Manchester United Carabao Cup 2020-21 fourth roundThe fourth round ties were played the week commencing September 28.Tottenham advanced to the quarter-finals over Chelsea through penalty shootout, while Liverpool were outdone by Arsenal in the same manner.Man Utd beat Brighton 3-0 to progress, while Man City registered victory against Burnley by the same scoreline.Date Fixture Sep 29 Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (5-4 pens.) Sep 30 Newport County 1-1 Newcastle United (4-5 pens.) Sep 30 Burnley 0-3 Manchester City Sep 30 Everton 4-1 West Ham Sep 30 Brighton 0-3 Manchester United Oct 1 Brentford 3-0 Fulham Oct 1 Aston Villa 0-1 Stoke City Oct 1 Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (4-5 pens.) Carabao Cup 2020-21 third roundThe likes of Arsenal,Chelsea,Leicester City,Liverpool,Manchester City,Manchester UnitedandTottenham Hotspur were automatically registered forthe third round due to their participation in European competitions.Leyton Orient's match against Tottenham was called off due to the home side announcing positive Covid-19 cases , with Spurs handed a bye for the fourth round.The draw was conducted on September 6, and was played the week commencing September 21.Date Fixture Sep 22 Leyon Orient A-A Tottenham (Spurs handed bye) Sep 22 Newport County 3-1 Watford Sep 22 West Brom 2-2 Brentford (4-5 pens.) Sep 22 West Ham 5-1 Hull City Sep 22 Luton Town 0-3 Man Utd Sep 23 Preston North End 0-2 Brighton Sep 23 Chelsea 6-0 Barnlsey Sep 23 Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton Sep 23 Fulham 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday Sep 23 Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal Sep 23 Millwall 0-2 Burnley Sep 23 Morecambe 0-7 Newcastle United Sep 23 Stoke City 1-0 Gillingham Sep 24 Bristol City 0-3 Aston Villa Sep 24 Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool Sep 24 Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth Carabao Cup 2020-21second roundFifty teams were involved in round two of the Carabao Cup, including Premier League clubs that are not participating in European competition.Like previous years, the draw was again split into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. The draw for the second round was made on September 6.Date Fixture Sep 15 Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace (pens. 11-10) Sep 15 Bradford City 0-5 Lincoln City Sep 15 Burton Albion 1-3 Aston Villa Sep 15 Derby County 1-2 Preston North End Sep 15 Fleetwood Town 2-1 Port Vale Sep 15 Gillingham 1-1 Coventry City (5-4 pens.) Sep 15 Leyton Orient 3-2 Plymouth Argyle Sep 15 Middlesbrough 0-2 Barnsley Sep 15 Millwall 3-1 Cheltenham Town Sep 15 Morecambe 1-0 Oldham Athletic Sep 15 Newcastle United 1-0 Blackburn Rovers Sep 15 Newport County 1-0 Cambridge United Sep 15 Oxford United 1-1 Watford (0-3 pens.) Sep 15 Reading 0-1 Luton Town Sep 15 Rochdale 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday Sep 15 West Ham United 3-0 Charlton Athletic Sep 16 Bristol City 4-0 Northampton Town Sep 16 Everton 3-0 Salford City Sep 16 Ipswich Town 0-1 Fulham Sep 16 Leeds United 1-1 Hull City (8-9 pens.) Sep 16 Southampton 0-2 Brentford Sep 16 West Brom 3-0 Harrogate Town Sep 17 Brighton 4-0 Portsmouth Sep 17 Burnley 1-1 Sheffield United (5-4 pens.) Sep 17 Wolves 0-1 Stoke Carabao Cup 2020-21 first roundSeventy clubs participated in the first round, with 24 teams from League Two (tier four), 24 from League One (tier three), and 22 from the Championship (tier two).The draw was divided between 'northern' and 'southern' sections.Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.Date Fixture Aug 29 Preston North End 4-0 Mansfield Town Aug 29 Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Doncaster Rovers Aug 29 Stoke City 0-0 Blackpool (5-4 pens.) Aug 29 Stevenage 3-3 Portsmouth (1-3 pens.) Sep 4 Burton Albion 1-1 Accrington Stanley (4-2 pens.) Sep 4 Middlesbrough 4-3 Shrewsbury Town Sep 5 Derby County 0-0 Barrow (3-2 pens.) Sep 5 Plymouth Argyle 3-2 Queens Park Rangers Sep 5 Crawley Town 1-3 Millwall Sep 5 Gillingham 1-0 Southend United Sep 5 Bristol City 2-0 Exeter City Sep 5 Walsall 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday (2-4 pens.) Sep 5 Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Harrogate Town (7-8 pens.) Sep 5 Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Lincoln City Sep 5 Huddersfield Town 0-1 Rochdale Sep 5 Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Bradford City Sep 5 Fleetwood Town 3-2 Wigan Athletic Sep 5 Grimsby Town 1-1 Morecambe (3-4 pens.) Sep 5 Scunthorpe United 1-2 Port Vale Sep 5 Sunderland 0-0 Hull City (4-5 pens.) Sep 5 Salford City 1-1 Rotherham United (4-2 pens.) Sep 5 Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest Sep 5 Oldham Athletic 3-0 Carlisle United Sep 5 Swindon Town 1-3 Charlton Athletic Sep 5 Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Leyton Orient Sep 5 Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Coventry City Sep 5 Peterborough United 0-1 Cheltenham Town Sep 5 Northampton Town 3-0 Cardiff City Sep 5 Luton Town 3-1 Norwich City Sep 5 Birmingham City 0-1 Cambridge United Sep 5 Newport County 2-0 Swansea City Sep 5 Oxford United 1-1 Wimbledon (4-3 pens.) Sep 5 Reading 3-1 Colchester United Sep 5 Ipswich Town 3-0 Bristol Rovers Sep 6 Brentford 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers (4-2 pens.) Carabao Cup 2020-21 on TVIn the United Kingdom, the Carabao Cup will be broadcast and live-streamed on Sky Sports.In the United States, the competition will be shown on ESPN channels. Carabao Cup 2020-21 rulesAs was the case in 2019-20, extra-time will be abandoned for all rounds except for the final, with ties advancing straight to penalties in the event that the score is a draw at the end of regular time .This was introduced in order to limit issues of "additional fatigue", as Carabao Cup fixtures typically take place in the middle of the week.The ABBA penalty system trial was also eliminated, with the format for penalty shoot-outs now reverting to the standard ABAB penalty-taker order.Seeding has also been removed from the first two rounds.Video assistant refereeing (VAR) will continue to be in use in fixtures played at Premier League grounds.Additionally,this will mark the first instance in which the winnerwill also qualify for the play-offs of the brand-newEuropa Conference League, instead of thesecond qualifying round of the Europa League.All ties will be played as single legs. Will away goals count in the Carabao Cup semi-finals?If both teams are level after the end of full-time during the second leg of either of the semi-final ties, the game will go directly toa penalty shoot-out with a no away goals rule implemented - a rule which began in 2018-19.Previously, theaway-goal rule was used in the semi-final stage in the same manner as it is in the Champions League knockout rounds. If, for instance, the away team scored a goal in the first leg that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the second leg ending 0-0, then that team would have progressed to the final courtesy of the away-goals rule.Now, no such rule will be considered and second-leg stalemates will be decided ultimately by a penalty shoot-out. Why is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?Until 2016, the tournament was named the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) instead of the League Cup,following the rebranding of the Football League to the English Football League.Officially, the EFL Cup is known as the Carabao Cup due to the energy drink being the tournament's official sponsors.Prior to Carabao'ssponsorship of the tournament starting from 2017, the competition was called the EFL Cup (2016-17), the Capital One Cup (2012-13 to 2015-16), the Carling Cup (sponsored by Molson Coors from 2003-04 to2011-12), the Worthington Cup (sponsored by Worthington's from 1998-99 to 2002-03), and the Coca-Cola Cup (from 1992-93 to 1997-98). Carabao & League Cup past winners Getty https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/GOAL/6/df/liverpool-carling-cup-2012_3u5bo531fahe12w4agsol0c6j.png?t=959309685&w=500&quality=80
Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup the most times, winning their eighth in 2012 when they defeated Cardiff City on penalties. Behind them are Man City, who lifted their seventh Carabao Cup in 2020 when they beat Aston Villa through penalty shootout.Manchester United,Aston Villa and Chelsea have all won the Carabao Cup five times each.Tottenham and Nottingham Forest have both won the competition four times apiece.Only lists teams who have won the competition the most times.
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Carabao Cup 2020-21: Fixtures, teams, draw dates & all you need to know

The 2020-21 edition of theCarabao Cup began in August, withChampionship, League One and League Two sides entering the competition. Manchester City lifted their seventhCarabao Cup and third title in a row after beating Aston Villa in last season's final back in March. Goal has your complete guide, including participating teams, full draw information, fixture schedules and results.Carabao Cup formatCarabao Cup finalCarabao Cup semi-finalsCarabao Cup quarter-finalsCarabao Cup fourth roundCarabao Cup third roundCarabao Cup second roundCarabao Cup first roundCarabao Cup on TVCarabao Cup rulesAway goalsWhy is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?Past winners CarabaoCup 2020-21formatAll 92 clubs competingin the Premier League and the English Football League enter the 2020-21 CarabaoCup, with participation distributed across the divisions.The competition will be played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout.The previous two-legged tie for the semi-final was scrapped in favour of one.In round one, the draw was split into northern and southern clubs with 22 Championship sides and all League One and League Two clubs entering. Carabao Cup 2020-21 finalThe Carabao Cup 2020-21 final will be played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday April 25, 2021. It will kick off at 4pm GMT (11am ET)It had originally been scheduled for February 28, 2021, but the EFL made the decision to rearrange the date in order to increase the chances of supporters being able to attend.A statement released in December confirmed the news, saying: "It is the objective of the League to stage the final with as many supporters in attendance as possible and the decision has therefore been taken to move the final from its original date of SundayFebruary 28, 2021 to later in the year."The number of fans permitted will be dependent on government guidance in place at the time and it is hoped that moving the date to later in the year will give clubs and their fans the best opportunity to attend in person."Date Fixture Apr 25 Winner of semi-final 1 vs Winner of semi-final 2 Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finalsThe Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finals will be played from January 4, 2021, with the games being played over one leg rather than two to help with fixture congestion.Manchester United will host rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford in a huge derby encounter while Tottenham will host Championship outfit Brentford in north London.Date Fixture Jan 4(TBC) Manchester United vs Manchester City Jan 4 (TBC) Tottenham vs Brentford Carabao Cup 2020-21 quarter-finalsThe quarter-final ties will be played the week startingDecember 21.Manchester City compounded Mikel Arteta's woes by inflicting a 4-1 defeat on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, closing off a potential avenue for redemption for the Gunners boss.They were to be joined in the final four by local rivals Manchester United, who scored two late goals to see of Everton.Championship promotion contenders Brentford sprung a surprise by beating Newcastle United.Tottenham also faced Championship opposition in the form of Stoke City, beating them 3-1 at the bet365 Stadium.Date Fixture Dec 22 Brentford 1-0 Newcastle United Dec 22 Arsenal 1-4 Manchester City Dec 23 Stoke City 1-3 Tottenham Dec 23 Everton 0-2 Manchester United Carabao Cup 2020-21 fourth roundThe fourth round ties were played the week commencing September 28.Tottenham advanced to the quarter-finals over Chelsea through penalty shootout, while Liverpool were outdone by Arsenal in the same manner.Man Utd beat Brighton 3-0 to progress, while Man City registered victory against Burnley by the same scoreline.Date Fixture Sep 29 Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (5-4 pens.) Sep 30 Newport County 1-1 Newcastle United (4-5 pens.) Sep 30 Burnley 0-3 Manchester City Sep 30 Everton 4-1 West Ham Sep 30 Brighton 0-3 Manchester United Oct 1 Brentford 3-0 Fulham Oct 1 Aston Villa 0-1 Stoke City Oct 1 Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (4-5 pens.) Carabao Cup 2020-21 third roundThe likes of Arsenal,Chelsea,Leicester City,Liverpool,Manchester City,Manchester UnitedandTottenham Hotspur were automatically registered forthe third round due to their participation in European competitions.Leyton Orient's match against Tottenham was called off due to the home side announcing positive Covid-19 cases , with Spurs handed a bye for the fourth round.The draw was conducted on September 6, and was played the week commencing September 21.Date Fixture Sep 22 Leyon Orient A-A Tottenham (Spurs handed bye) Sep 22 Newport County 3-1 Watford Sep 22 West Brom 2-2 Brentford (4-5 pens.) Sep 22 West Ham 5-1 Hull City Sep 22 Luton Town 0-3 Man Utd Sep 23 Preston North End 0-2 Brighton Sep 23 Chelsea 6-0 Barnlsey Sep 23 Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton Sep 23 Fulham 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday Sep 23 Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal Sep 23 Millwall 0-2 Burnley Sep 23 Morecambe 0-7 Newcastle United Sep 23 Stoke City 1-0 Gillingham Sep 24 Bristol City 0-3 Aston Villa Sep 24 Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool Sep 24 Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth Carabao Cup 2020-21second roundFifty teams were involved in round two of the Carabao Cup, including Premier League clubs that are not participating in European competition.Like previous years, the draw was again split into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. The draw for the second round was made on September 6.Date Fixture Sep 15 Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace (pens. 11-10) Sep 15 Bradford City 0-5 Lincoln City Sep 15 Burton Albion 1-3 Aston Villa Sep 15 Derby County 1-2 Preston North End Sep 15 Fleetwood Town 2-1 Port Vale Sep 15 Gillingham 1-1 Coventry City (5-4 pens.) Sep 15 Leyton Orient 3-2 Plymouth Argyle Sep 15 Middlesbrough 0-2 Barnsley Sep 15 Millwall 3-1 Cheltenham Town Sep 15 Morecambe 1-0 Oldham Athletic Sep 15 Newcastle United 1-0 Blackburn Rovers Sep 15 Newport County 1-0 Cambridge United Sep 15 Oxford United 1-1 Watford (0-3 pens.) Sep 15 Reading 0-1 Luton Town Sep 15 Rochdale 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday Sep 15 West Ham United 3-0 Charlton Athletic Sep 16 Bristol City 4-0 Northampton Town Sep 16 Everton 3-0 Salford City Sep 16 Ipswich Town 0-1 Fulham Sep 16 Leeds United 1-1 Hull City (8-9 pens.) Sep 16 Southampton 0-2 Brentford Sep 16 West Brom 3-0 Harrogate Town Sep 17 Brighton 4-0 Portsmouth Sep 17 Burnley 1-1 Sheffield United (5-4 pens.) Sep 17 Wolves 0-1 Stoke Carabao Cup 2020-21 first roundSeventy clubs participated in the first round, with 24 teams from League Two (tier four), 24 from League One (tier three), and 22 from the Championship (tier two).The draw was divided between 'northern' and 'southern' sections.Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.Date Fixture Aug 29 Preston North End 4-0 Mansfield Town Aug 29 Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Doncaster Rovers Aug 29 Stoke City 0-0 Blackpool (5-4 pens.) Aug 29 Stevenage 3-3 Portsmouth (1-3 pens.) Sep 4 Burton Albion 1-1 Accrington Stanley (4-2 pens.) Sep 4 Middlesbrough 4-3 Shrewsbury Town Sep 5 Derby County 0-0 Barrow (3-2 pens.) Sep 5 Plymouth Argyle 3-2 Queens Park Rangers Sep 5 Crawley Town 1-3 Millwall Sep 5 Gillingham 1-0 Southend United Sep 5 Bristol City 2-0 Exeter City Sep 5 Walsall 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday (2-4 pens.) Sep 5 Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Harrogate Town (7-8 pens.) Sep 5 Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Lincoln City Sep 5 Huddersfield Town 0-1 Rochdale Sep 5 Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Bradford City Sep 5 Fleetwood Town 3-2 Wigan Athletic Sep 5 Grimsby Town 1-1 Morecambe (3-4 pens.) Sep 5 Scunthorpe United 1-2 Port Vale Sep 5 Sunderland 0-0 Hull City (4-5 pens.) Sep 5 Salford City 1-1 Rotherham United (4-2 pens.) Sep 5 Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest Sep 5 Oldham Athletic 3-0 Carlisle United Sep 5 Swindon Town 1-3 Charlton Athletic Sep 5 Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Leyton Orient Sep 5 Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Coventry City Sep 5 Peterborough United 0-1 Cheltenham Town Sep 5 Northampton Town 3-0 Cardiff City Sep 5 Luton Town 3-1 Norwich City Sep 5 Birmingham City 0-1 Cambridge United Sep 5 Newport County 2-0 Swansea City Sep 5 Oxford United 1-1 Wimbledon (4-3 pens.) Sep 5 Reading 3-1 Colchester United Sep 5 Ipswich Town 3-0 Bristol Rovers Sep 6 Brentford 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers (4-2 pens.) Carabao Cup 2020-21 on TVIn the United Kingdom, the Carabao Cup will be broadcast and live-streamed on Sky Sports.In the United States, the competition will be shown on ESPN channels. Carabao Cup 2020-21 rulesAs was the case in 2019-20, extra-time will be abandoned for all rounds except for the final, with ties advancing straight to penalties in the event that the score is a draw at the end of regular time .This was introduced in order to limit issues of "additional fatigue", as Carabao Cup fixtures typically take place in the middle of the week.The ABBA penalty system trial was also eliminated, with the format for penalty shoot-outs now reverting to the standard ABAB penalty-taker order.Seeding has also been removed from the first two rounds.Video assistant refereeing (VAR) will continue to be in use in fixtures played at Premier League grounds.Additionally,this will mark the first instance in which the winnerwill also qualify for the play-offs of the brand-newEuropa Conference League, instead of thesecond qualifying round of the Europa League.All ties will be played as single legs. Will away goals count in the Carabao Cup semi-finals?If both teams are level after the end of full-time during the second leg of either of the semi-final ties, the game will go directly toa penalty shoot-out with a no away goals rule implemented - a rule which began in 2018-19.Previously, theaway-goal rule was used in the semi-final stage in the same manner as it is in the Champions League knockout rounds. If, for instance, the away team scored a goal in the first leg that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the second leg ending 0-0, then that team would have progressed to the final courtesy of the away-goals rule.Now, no such rule will be considered and second-leg stalemates will be decided ultimately by a penalty shoot-out. Why is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?Until 2016, the tournament was named the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) instead of the League Cup,following the rebranding of the Football League to the English Football League.Officially, the EFL Cup is known as the Carabao Cup due to the energy drink being the tournament's official sponsors.Prior to Carabao'ssponsorship of the tournament starting from 2017, the competition was called the EFL Cup (2016-17), the Capital One Cup (2012-13 to 2015-16), the Carling Cup (sponsored by Molson Coors from 2003-04 to2011-12), the Worthington Cup (sponsored by Worthington's from 1998-99 to 2002-03), and the Coca-Cola Cup (from 1992-93 to 1997-98). Carabao & League Cup past winners Getty https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/GOAL/6/df/liverpool-carling-cup-2012_3u5bo531fahe12w4agsol0c6j.png?t=959309685&w=500&quality=80
Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup the most times, winning their eighth in 2012 when they defeated Cardiff City on penalties. Behind them are Man City, who lifted their seventh Carabao Cup in 2020 when they beat Aston Villa through penalty shootout.Manchester United,Aston Villa and Chelsea have all won the Carabao Cup five times each.Tottenham and Nottingham Forest have both won the competition four times apiece.Only lists teams who have won the competition the most times.
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Carabao Cup 2020-21: Fixtures, teams, draw dates & all you need to know

The 2020-21 edition of theCarabao Cup began in August, withChampionship, League One and League Two sides entering the competition. Manchester City lifted their seventhCarabao Cup and third title in a row after beating Aston Villa in last season's final back in March. Goal has your complete guide, including participating teams, full draw information, fixture schedules and results.Carabao Cup formatCarabao Cup finalCarabao Cup semi-finalsCarabao Cup quarter-finalsCarabao Cup fourth roundCarabao Cup third roundCarabao Cup second roundCarabao Cup first roundCarabao Cup on TVCarabao Cup rulesAway goalsWhy is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?Past winners CarabaoCup 2020-21formatAll 92 clubs competingin the Premier League and the English Football League enter the 2020-21 CarabaoCup, with participation distributed across the divisions.The competition will be played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout.The previous two-legged tie for the semi-final was scrapped in favour of one.In round one, the draw was split into northern and southern clubs with 22 Championship sides and all League One and League Two clubs entering. Carabao Cup 2020-21 finalThe Carabao Cup 2020-21 final will be played at Wembley Stadium on Sunday April 25, 2021. It will kick off at 4pm GMT (11am ET)It had originally been scheduled for February 28, 2021, but the EFL made the decision to rearrange the date in order to increase the chances of supporters being able to attend.A statement released in December confirmed the news, saying: "It is the objective of the League to stage the final with as many supporters in attendance as possible and the decision has therefore been taken to move the final from its original date of SundayFebruary 28, 2021 to later in the year."The number of fans permitted will be dependent on government guidance in place at the time and it is hoped that moving the date to later in the year will give clubs and their fans the best opportunity to attend in person."Date Fixture Apr 25 Winner of semi-final 1 vs Winner of semi-final 2 Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finalsThe Carabao Cup 2020-21 semi-finals will be played from January 4, 2021, with the games being played over one leg rather than two to help with fixture congestion.Manchester United will host rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford in a huge derby encounter while Tottenham will host Championship outfit Brentford in north London.Date Fixture Jan 4(TBC) Manchester United vs Manchester City Jan 4 (TBC) Tottenham vs Brentford Carabao Cup 2020-21 quarter-finalsThe quarter-final ties will be played the week startingDecember 21.Manchester City compounded Mikel Arteta's woes by inflicting a 4-1 defeat on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, closing off a potential avenue for redemption for the Gunners boss.They were to be joined in the final four by local rivals Manchester United, who scored two late goals to see of Everton.Championship promotion contenders Brentford sprung a surprise by beating Newcastle United.Tottenham also faced Championship opposition in the form of Stoke City, beating them 3-1 at the bet365 Stadium.Date Fixture Dec 22 Brentford 1-0 Newcastle United Dec 22 Arsenal 1-4 Manchester City Dec 23 Stoke City 1-3 Tottenham Dec 23 Everton 0-2 Manchester United Carabao Cup 2020-21 fourth roundThe fourth round ties were played the week commencing September 28.Tottenham advanced to the quarter-finals over Chelsea through penalty shootout, while Liverpool were outdone by Arsenal in the same manner.Man Utd beat Brighton 3-0 to progress, while Man City registered victory against Burnley by the same scoreline.Date Fixture Sep 29 Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea (5-4 pens.) Sep 30 Newport County 1-1 Newcastle United (4-5 pens.) Sep 30 Burnley 0-3 Manchester City Sep 30 Everton 4-1 West Ham Sep 30 Brighton 0-3 Manchester United Oct 1 Brentford 3-0 Fulham Oct 1 Aston Villa 0-1 Stoke City Oct 1 Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal (4-5 pens.) Carabao Cup 2020-21 third roundThe likes of Arsenal,Chelsea,Leicester City,Liverpool,Manchester City,Manchester UnitedandTottenham Hotspur were automatically registered forthe third round due to their participation in European competitions.Leyton Orient's match against Tottenham was called off due to the home side announcing positive Covid-19 cases , with Spurs handed a bye for the fourth round.The draw was conducted on September 6, and was played the week commencing September 21.Date Fixture Sep 22 Leyon Orient A-A Tottenham (Spurs handed bye) Sep 22 Newport County 3-1 Watford Sep 22 West Brom 2-2 Brentford (4-5 pens.) Sep 22 West Ham 5-1 Hull City Sep 22 Luton Town 0-3 Man Utd Sep 23 Preston North End 0-2 Brighton Sep 23 Chelsea 6-0 Barnlsey Sep 23 Fleetwood Town 2-5 Everton Sep 23 Fulham 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday Sep 23 Leicester City 0-2 Arsenal Sep 23 Millwall 0-2 Burnley Sep 23 Morecambe 0-7 Newcastle United Sep 23 Stoke City 1-0 Gillingham Sep 24 Bristol City 0-3 Aston Villa Sep 24 Lincoln City 2-7 Liverpool Sep 24 Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth Carabao Cup 2020-21second roundFifty teams were involved in round two of the Carabao Cup, including Premier League clubs that are not participating in European competition.Like previous years, the draw was again split into 'northern' and 'southern' sections. The draw for the second round was made on September 6.Date Fixture Sep 15 Bournemouth 0-0 Crystal Palace (pens. 11-10) Sep 15 Bradford City 0-5 Lincoln City Sep 15 Burton Albion 1-3 Aston Villa Sep 15 Derby County 1-2 Preston North End Sep 15 Fleetwood Town 2-1 Port Vale Sep 15 Gillingham 1-1 Coventry City (5-4 pens.) Sep 15 Leyton Orient 3-2 Plymouth Argyle Sep 15 Middlesbrough 0-2 Barnsley Sep 15 Millwall 3-1 Cheltenham Town Sep 15 Morecambe 1-0 Oldham Athletic Sep 15 Newcastle United 1-0 Blackburn Rovers Sep 15 Newport County 1-0 Cambridge United Sep 15 Oxford United 1-1 Watford (0-3 pens.) Sep 15 Reading 0-1 Luton Town Sep 15 Rochdale 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday Sep 15 West Ham United 3-0 Charlton Athletic Sep 16 Bristol City 4-0 Northampton Town Sep 16 Everton 3-0 Salford City Sep 16 Ipswich Town 0-1 Fulham Sep 16 Leeds United 1-1 Hull City (8-9 pens.) Sep 16 Southampton 0-2 Brentford Sep 16 West Brom 3-0 Harrogate Town Sep 17 Brighton 4-0 Portsmouth Sep 17 Burnley 1-1 Sheffield United (5-4 pens.) Sep 17 Wolves 0-1 Stoke Carabao Cup 2020-21 first roundSeventy clubs participated in the first round, with 24 teams from League Two (tier four), 24 from League One (tier three), and 22 from the Championship (tier two).The draw was divided between 'northern' and 'southern' sections.Teams were drawn against a team from the same section.Date Fixture Aug 29 Preston North End 4-0 Mansfield Town Aug 29 Blackburn Rovers 3-2 Doncaster Rovers Aug 29 Stoke City 0-0 Blackpool (5-4 pens.) Aug 29 Stevenage 3-3 Portsmouth (1-3 pens.) Sep 4 Burton Albion 1-1 Accrington Stanley (4-2 pens.) Sep 4 Middlesbrough 4-3 Shrewsbury Town Sep 5 Derby County 0-0 Barrow (3-2 pens.) Sep 5 Plymouth Argyle 3-2 Queens Park Rangers Sep 5 Crawley Town 1-3 Millwall Sep 5 Gillingham 1-0 Southend United Sep 5 Bristol City 2-0 Exeter City Sep 5 Walsall 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday (2-4 pens.) Sep 5 Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Harrogate Town (7-8 pens.) Sep 5 Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Lincoln City Sep 5 Huddersfield Town 0-1 Rochdale Sep 5 Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Bradford City Sep 5 Fleetwood Town 3-2 Wigan Athletic Sep 5 Grimsby Town 1-1 Morecambe (3-4 pens.) Sep 5 Scunthorpe United 1-2 Port Vale Sep 5 Sunderland 0-0 Hull City (4-5 pens.) Sep 5 Salford City 1-1 Rotherham United (4-2 pens.) Sep 5 Barnsley 1-0 Nottingham Forest Sep 5 Oldham Athletic 3-0 Carlisle United Sep 5 Swindon Town 1-3 Charlton Athletic Sep 5 Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Leyton Orient Sep 5 Milton Keynes Dons 0-1 Coventry City Sep 5 Peterborough United 0-1 Cheltenham Town Sep 5 Northampton Town 3-0 Cardiff City Sep 5 Luton Town 3-1 Norwich City Sep 5 Birmingham City 0-1 Cambridge United Sep 5 Newport County 2-0 Swansea City Sep 5 Oxford United 1-1 Wimbledon (4-3 pens.) Sep 5 Reading 3-1 Colchester United Sep 5 Ipswich Town 3-0 Bristol Rovers Sep 6 Brentford 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers (4-2 pens.) Carabao Cup 2020-21 on TVIn the United Kingdom, the Carabao Cup will be broadcast and live-streamed on Sky Sports.In the United States, the competition will be shown on ESPN channels. Carabao Cup 2020-21 rulesAs was the case in 2019-20, extra-time will be abandoned for all rounds except for the final, with ties advancing straight to penalties in the event that the score is a draw at the end of regular time .This was introduced in order to limit issues of "additional fatigue", as Carabao Cup fixtures typically take place in the middle of the week.The ABBA penalty system trial was also eliminated, with the format for penalty shoot-outs now reverting to the standard ABAB penalty-taker order.Seeding has also been removed from the first two rounds.Video assistant refereeing (VAR) will continue to be in use in fixtures played at Premier League grounds.Additionally,this will mark the first instance in which the winnerwill also qualify for the play-offs of the brand-newEuropa Conference League, instead of thesecond qualifying round of the Europa League.All ties will be played as single legs. Will away goals count in the Carabao Cup semi-finals?If both teams are level after the end of full-time during the second leg of either of the semi-final ties, the game will go directly toa penalty shoot-out with a no away goals rule implemented - a rule which began in 2018-19.Previously, theaway-goal rule was used in the semi-final stage in the same manner as it is in the Champions League knockout rounds. If, for instance, the away team scored a goal in the first leg that ended in a 1-1 draw, with the second leg ending 0-0, then that team would have progressed to the final courtesy of the away-goals rule.Now, no such rule will be considered and second-leg stalemates will be decided ultimately by a penalty shoot-out. Why is the League Cup called the Carabao Cup?Until 2016, the tournament was named the English Football League Cup (EFL Cup) instead of the League Cup,following the rebranding of the Football League to the English Football League.Officially, the EFL Cup is known as the Carabao Cup due to the energy drink being the tournament's official sponsors.Prior to Carabao'ssponsorship of the tournament starting from 2017, the competition was called the EFL Cup (2016-17), the Capital One Cup (2012-13 to 2015-16), the Carling Cup (sponsored by Molson Coors from 2003-04 to2011-12), the Worthington Cup (sponsored by Worthington's from 1998-99 to 2002-03), and the Coca-Cola Cup (from 1992-93 to 1997-98). Carabao & League Cup past winners Getty https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/GOAL/6/df/liverpool-carling-cup-2012_3u5bo531fahe12w4agsol0c6j.png?t=959309685&w=500&quality=80
Liverpool have won the Carabao Cup the most times, winning their eighth in 2012 when they defeated Cardiff City on penalties. Behind them are Man City, who lifted their seventh Carabao Cup in 2020 when they beat Aston Villa through penalty shootout.Manchester United,Aston Villa and Chelsea have all won the Carabao Cup five times each.Tottenham and Nottingham Forest have both won the competition four times apiece.Only lists teams who have won the competition the most times.
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K-pop, K-drama, K-lit (or "K-literature" if you want to be decent), K-beauty... things that start with K are pretty popular these days[.]() But can any of them really compare with K League?
Contents:

Why watch

Here comes the marketing spiel. If you follow K League, you'll get throw-ins like THIS, headers like THIS, and epic knee-slides like THIS. Are you not entertained?
The best practical reason for following it is that you can get live football at a time of day when there's not much other football on - afternoons in East Asia, mornings in UK and Europe, and evenings or nights in the Americas. It's also a summer league, so you'll never have to go without club football from ~June-August again.
The highly scientific and not-at-all-questionable IFFHS rankings also has K League as the best league in Asia by quite some bit, and the 20th best league in the world. If the 20th best league sounds like something you might be interested in, carry on reading. If not, also carry on reading.

2020 season recap

I started writing a separate 2020 season recap, but I didn't get past a gif of Jesse Pinkman shouting "He can't keep getting away with it!", where in this case "he" is Jeonbuk and "it" is winning the league. However, I've now some time to compose myself, so here goes my mini summary.
First some "best of" videos
The reason I wanted to scream like Jesse is that Jeonbuk just weren't that good - they regularly dropped points to teams in the lower half of the table, scraped wins, and played most of the season without a competent striker. This feeling that Jeonbuk were a bit pants was verified when Jeonbuk were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage for the first time in ages. So why couldn't anyone take advantage of that?
The answer lies in Ulsan. Ulsan lost out on the 2019 league title on the tiebreaker of a single goal scored, and there was real determination to get it done in 2020. In 2020 Ulsan were great. They spent the majority of the season at the top of the table, were crowned champions of Asia in an unbeaten run, and only lost to two teams all year. Unfortunately, one of those teams was Jeonbuk, and they lost to them three times in the league. If Ulsan could have just drawn ONCE, they would have won their first league title since 2005. But they didn't. They came runner-up, trailing Jeonbuk by 3 points. To rub salt into the wound, they also lost to Jeonbuk in the FA Cup final the week after the league finished.
As for everyone else, in order of finishing:
From K League 2 Jeju bounce back after just one year, possibly thanks to promotion specialist Nam Ki-il, and Suwon FC won promotion with literally the last kick of the season to ensure we'll see a Suwon Derby again in 2021.
Also since it was the "big thing" in 2020, I'll give a small mention to coronavirus. Due to an abundance of caution, crowds were absent for most of the season, but not a single positive case among K League 1 clubs occured, which is just incredible.

The off-season

AFC Champions League

After the domestic season was finished, there was the small matter of almost an entire Champions League campaign to play in Qatar. There were 4 teams representing K League.
FC Seoul arrived at the competition with yet another caretaker manager, this time it was a scout from their backroom staff because they couldn't find anyone else with the correct coaching license that the AFC requires. They continued their domestic form and went home early, finishing 3rd in their group.
Jeonbuk also finished 3rd in their group. In their defence they did have a lot of their usual starting XI missing, but the Jeonbuk of yesteryear would have still managed. They just weren't very good in 2020.
Suwon Bluewings were perhaps the darkest horse at the tournament, and despite turning up with an all-Korean squad and without their captain, showed a will to scrap for every single ball and a self-confidence that was quite terrifying. They played in what was my personal favourite game of the tournament, a win over the then-reigning J.League champions Yokohama FM which included a lob from the halfway line. Unfortunately they had to play the majority of their next game with 10 men. They still pushed it to penalties, but didn't get lucky. If you count a loss on penalties as a draw, they still left Qatar unbeaten.
Ulsan... well they won it. Well done them. Their manager headed into the competition knowing he wouldn't have a job afterwards regardless of outcome, but they still bossed it. They lifted the trophy undefeated for only the second time in the competition's history. The first team that did it was themselves, in 2012.

Club World Cup

During Ulsan's rebuild, they had to jet off to Qatar again to fight for the title of champions of the universe. Literally half of the players who played in the Champions League final in December did not make the return trip to Qatar, either due to injury or having left the club, and the manager and 5 players were making their debut for the club. Expectations were not high, and they met those expectations by losing to Tigres and Al-Duhail. However, the trip wasn't totally pointless, as they managed to score this offside [goal that some said was Puskas-worthy]().

Transfers

The transfer window followed the familiar pattern of the previous season's best talent leaving for richer (but not necessarily better) leagues abroad, and an influx of Eastern Europeans with exotic names.
One notable pair of transfers is Seongnam's signing of forwards Park Yong-ji and Sergiu Bus. Will they be any good? Who knows. But the prospect of Park and Bus playing up front is the reddit comedian's wet dream.
Considering they came within touching distance of the league 2 seasons in a row and were just crowned champions of Asia, Ulsan are undergoing a massive rebuild. The new coach has minimal club coaching experience, and hasn't managed for over three years, but is apparently getting rid of anyone over the age of 30. Among the departures, captain Shin Jin-ho went to their East Coast Derby rivals Pohang, but the biggest shock is their striker Junior, who just had the most prolific season in K League history, being let go on a free to China.
I won't go over the other couple of hundred transfers that happened, but here's a list of all the foreigners in K League this season so that you can see if you recognise any journeymen:
Club AFC slot
Daegu 🇧🇷Cesinha 🇧🇷Edgar 🇯🇵Tsubasa
Gangwon 🇷🇸Siladi 🇯🇵Ishida 🇺🇿Ashurmatov
Gwangju 🇧🇷Felipe
Incheon 🇧🇷Negueba 🇲🇪Mugosa 🇨🇷Aguilar 🇦🇺Delbridge
Jeju 🇺🇿Kenzhaboev
Jeonbuk 🇧🇷Gustavo 🇬🇲Barrow 🇷🇺/🇩🇪Iljutcenko 🇯🇵Kunimoto
Pohang 🇨🇴Palacios 🇦🇺Grant
Seongnam 🇦🇹Windbichler 🇷🇸Mulic 🇷🇴Bus 🇺🇿Iskanderov
FC Seoul 🇷🇸Palocevic 🇪🇦Osmar 🇺🇿Alibaev
Suwon FC 🇧🇷Murilo 🇿🇦Veldwijk
Suwon Bluewings 🇮🇹Dumitru 🇷🇸Deric 🇨🇦Henry 🇦🇺Antonis
Ulsan 🇦🇹Hinterseer 🇳🇱Bulthuis 🇦🇺Davidson

Matchday 1

The season kicks off on Saturday, with reigning champions Jeonbuk hosting FC Seoul. The fixture is known as "the legendary match" (it's purely a Korean word play, it's not really that legendary), and FC Seoul haven't won this tie since 2017. FC Seoul have however had probably the most promising transfer window of anyone this winter, so putting an end to this record wouldn't be that shocking.
The times are admittedly not that convenient for UK viewers, but after the clocks change and the kick-off times shift to later in the day to avoid the daytime heat, you can still have a long lie-in and catch the whole match.
The K League 1 matchday 1 kick-off times are as follows:
Saturday 27th Feb
Sunday 28th Feb
Monday 1st Mar

How to follow

There is only one place on reddit to follow all the K League happenings - KLeague. Over the past year, we've grown by about 350 subscribers over 45% (wow!) and now have image flairs that work across old, new, and mobile reddit. It's your go-to place to ask "stupid" questions and seek terrible advice on who to "root for". If you check the subreddit wiki you'll find plenty of info on how to get into it and how to watch the action live or highlights.
There is no Supercup/Community Shield in Korea, but the first match of the season is arranged to be the previous season's League champions vs the FA Cup winners. This means it's Jeonbuk vs Suwon on Friday. The smart money will be on a Jeonbuk win, but the dollarydoos will be on Suwon. Given that nobody's played a league match since 1st December last year though, everything's a bit unpredictable.

The off-season

The main transfers that I can remember include
Ki Sung-yueng almost returned to the K League but talks broke down due to some weird contract clause that FC Seoul still had over him, leading Ki to write this very mature message on his instagram and head off to Spain:
Hurt me with a lie and I can hurt you with the truth...stop playing with me u ain't gonna like when I play back
There were of course many many more transfers in the winter window, but none that would interest most people reading this.
What everyone should be interested in is the K League mascot "class president election", a popular vote for the K League's favourite mascot. It was a two horse race between Daegu's adorable Rica the hedgehog, and the prince of darkness, Suwon Bluewing's Aguileon. Actually I'm not sure which one the prince of darkness is. To my dismay, Aguileon managed to take 1st place, leading Rica by over 1,000 votes. Although he only came 7th, I also want to give special mention to Jeju United's orange.
There were big changes in the lower leagues, as three divisions were merged into two, sorting out the confusing naming schemes, and removing barriers to promotion and relegation throughout the pyramid. The two new divisions are semi-pro, called K3 League and K4 League, sitting below the professional K League 2, and above the amateur K5 league. The long-standing target of having pro/rel with K League 2 "within 5 years" now actually looks possible.

How do I watch it?

Watching live
Watching K League outside of Korea used to be tricky and in Western markets the rights were typically hoovered up by sites like Bet365.
Interest abroad for K League rights are heightened now, so this year there are at least some countries that have been confirmed to broadcast K League, mainly in Asia and Eastern Europe. There are rumours of France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and USA (ESPN?) being interested in the rights, but nothing confirmed yet.
If you don't live in a country that has broadcasting rights, there is still a way to watch online from a proper source. If you can get yourself a Korean IP address, i.e. using a VPN, it's very easy to watch many of the matches in a (mostly?) legal way. If you're using a browser simply head to the Korean web portal Naver (https://sports.naver.com/kfootball/index.nhn), and when there's a match on, it will appear at the top of the webpage, usually with some indication that live video is available. Click on it and start watching. (Note that I haven't checked if it's this straightforward on desktop; I don't own a computer. There's a chance you might be asked to install a browser add-on or something - you can ask in the comments here or on kleague if you need help). An alternative if you're on mobile is to install the "Naver TV" app and find a match in the Live tab. You can also watch back full matches that were shown on Naver if you miss it live.
I won't share less-legal ways to watch here, but if you head over to kleague and look at recent posts you might find something won't find anything so don't even think about it buddy.
One thing to consider about live matches is the time difference - in the winter months, matches kick off around 5am or 7am GMT. In the summer months, kick off is ~10am or 11am GMT. However, for the first couple of weekends the kick-off times are spread throughout the day, so you should be able to catch a game wherever you are.
Watching highlights
If an inconvenient time difference is putting you off, you can still enjoy K League even if you don't watch live. Every single match gets a high quality ~10 minute highlight video produced that is region-free on YouTube. Just imagine you're watching MOTD but without the bad punditry. The official K League channel, should be hosting these videos again this year, but I should include the disclaimer that there's a possibility that the rights to show highlights might have been sold this year, in which case you'd have to find out who has those rights in your country. Highlights are usually uploaded 30 mins – 2 hours after the end of a match, although I did read that AI in their new media centre will be producing highlights within a few minutes of the match ending...

Choosing a team

If any of you want to pick a team to support, if you give some criteria in the comments I can help by suggesting a team, but I'll leave some info here based on what I think could be some common ways to pick a team.
If looking good is your primary concern, here's an imgur album of all home and away K League kits. This album has the kits from both K League 1 & K League 2, so of you're only interested in the top flight you'll have to ignore a few. If looking good is really important to you, there's one particular corner of the internet that has already given their seal of approval to Daegu FC.
This short hype video also serves to show all club crests if you want to base a decision on that.
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South Korea's 2020 K League season starts this Friday 8th May - a very mini guide

Delayed by coronavirus by 10 weeks, Asia's oldest professional league is finally here
Contents:

Why should you care?

The most obvious reason is that it's being played at all and will probably be the highest-quality football on offer in the world right now.
Longer-term, when the football calendar returns to normal, following the K League means you'll never have to go without club football from ~June-August again, as the K League plays from ~February–November. When everyone in the DD is lamenting how empty their lives are now that the EPL has finished, you can just enjoy watching the K League in full swing every weekend.
I could wax lyrical about how amazing the K League is, but really those will be the best reasons for most people. Aside from that, it does generally provide very good entertainment. Last season we saw:

The impact of coronavirus

The K League season was postponed in late February, 5 days before it was meant to kick off. Training was allowed to continue, although friendlies against other teams were banned. South Korea's response to the virus has widely been considered "very good", and so talks took place in April about resuming the season soon after friendlies were allowed again.
Clubs initially ruled out opening behind closed doors due to their reliance on gate receipts for their finances, but I guess they changed their minds on that, as there will be no crowd at the beginning with no date set for opening the doors. However, given that South Korea held a general election with their highest ever voter turnout a few weeks ago, with no apparent subsequent impact on coronavirus numbers, I'm hopeful there will be a crowd in the near future. New cases in South Korea have been about 10 per day for the past few weeks, and a majority of those have been arrivals from abroad. Social distancing is set to be relaxed from Wednesday, moving into a new phase of "everyday life quarantine", with public facilities and schools ready to reopen.
The K League 1 season is normally 38 games, but will be reduced to 27 games for this year - each of the 12 teams will play each other twice, and then after round 22 the table will "split" for the final 5 games. A league champion will only be crowned if at least 22 games are played.
If any player or coach tests positive, their team will not play for at least 2 weeks. No staff or players connected with K League clubs were reported as testing positive during the outbreak, and last week all players, coaches, and support staff in K League 1 & K League 2 were tested prior to the start of the season, all testing negative.
One interesting side-effect of the delay is that the K League will be the first to implement the new 2020-2021 IFAB rules, which bring a bit more common sense into penalising a goalkeeper for coming off their line for a penalty, and only penalise an accidental handball from the attacker if it happens immediately before a goal.

How do I get into it?

You could just start watching, but you might want to know a bit more about what you're watching. There are only a handful of English-language websites that cover the K League. Probably the most comprehensive overview can be found on this webpage, which basically serves as an index for a lot more content, but you can pick and choose what you want to read. If you want something a bit more digestable, I've been making OC on reddit over the past year, and if you read some of it, you'd be as well-informed as most who watch it:
Guide to 2019 K League - perhaps a bit wordy, but could be worth a skim - not much changes in the space of a year anyway.
Korean derbies - soccer really loves a derby. Here I tried to cover the main ones within the top flight with a bit of history, some stories, and significant matches.
Season in review: 2019 K League - my recap of the season past. It was actually pretty exciting, with the title race going to the final day and decided on a single goal scored.
I've also made this map so that you can get an idea of where each club is geographically. Stadium pictures are included.

Matchday 1

There is no Supercup/Community Shield in Korea, but the first match of the season is arranged to be the previous season's League champions vs the FA Cup winners. This means it's Jeonbuk vs Suwon on Friday. The smart money will be on a Jeonbuk win, but the dollarydoos will be on Suwon. Given that nobody's played a league match since 1st December last year though, everything's a bit unpredictable.
The K League 1 matchday 1 kick-off times are as follows:
Friday 8th May 19:00 local time (10:00 GMT) Jeonbuk vs Suwon
Saturday 9th May 14:00 local time (05:00 GMT) Ulsan vs Sangju Sangmu
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT) Incheon vs Daegu
19:00 local time (10:00 GMT) Gwangju vs Seongnam
Sunday 10th May 14:00 local time (05:00 GMT) Pohang vs Busan
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT) Gangwon vs FC Seoul

The off-season

The main transfers that I can remember include
Ki Sung-yueng almost returned to the K League but talks broke down due to some weird contract clause that FC Seoul still had over him, leading Ki to write this very mature message on his instagram and head off to Spain:
Hurt me with a lie and I can hurt you with the truth...stop playing with me u ain't gonna like when I play back
There were of course many many more transfers in the winter window, but none that would interest most people reading this.
What everyone should be interested in is the K League mascot "class president election", a popular vote for the K League's favourite mascot. It was a two horse race between Daegu's adorable Rica the hedgehog, and the prince of darkness, Suwon Bluewing's Aguileon. Actually I'm not sure which one the prince of darkness is. To my dismay, Aguileon managed to take 1st place, leading Rica by over 1,000 votes. Although he only came 7th, I also want to give special mention to Jeju United's orange.
There were big changes in the lower leagues, as three divisions were merged into two, sorting out the confusing naming schemes, and removing barriers to promotion and relegation throughout the pyramid. The two new divisions are semi-pro, called K3 League and K4 League, sitting below the professional K League 2, and above the amateur K5 league. The long-standing target of having pro/rel with K League 2 "within 5 years" now actually looks possible.

How do I watch it?

Watching live
Watching K League outside of Korea used to be tricky and in Western markets the rights were typically hoovered up by sites like Bet365.
Interest abroad for K League rights are heightened now, so this year there are at least some countries that have been confirmed to broadcast K League, mainly in Asia and Eastern Europe. There are rumours of France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and USA (ESPN?) being interested in the rights, but nothing confirmed yet.
If you don't live in a country that has broadcasting rights, there is still a way to watch online from a proper source. If you can get yourself a Korean IP address, i.e. using a VPN, it's very easy to watch many of the matches in a (mostly?) legal way. If you're using a browser simply head to the Korean web portal Naver (https://sports.naver.com/kfootball/index.nhn), and when there's a match on, it will appear at the top of the webpage, usually with some indication that live video is available. Click on it and start watching. (Note that I haven't checked if it's this straightforward on desktop; I don't own a computer. There's a chance you might be asked to install a browser add-on or something - you can ask in the comments here or on kleague if you need help). An alternative if you're on mobile is to install the "Naver TV" app and find a match in the Live tab. You can also watch back full matches that were shown on Naver if you miss it live.
I won't share less-legal ways to watch here, but if you head over to kleague and look at recent posts you might find something won't find anything so don't even think about it buddy.
One thing to consider about live matches is the time difference - in the winter months, matches kick off around 5am or 7am GMT. In the summer months, kick off is ~10am or 11am GMT. However, for the first couple of weekends the kick-off times are spread throughout the day, so you should be able to catch a game wherever you are.
Watching highlights
If an inconvenient time difference is putting you off, you can still enjoy K League even if you don't watch live. Every single match gets a high quality ~10 minute highlight video produced that is region-free on YouTube. Just imagine you're watching MOTD but without the bad punditry. The official K League channel, should be hosting these videos again this year, but I should include the disclaimer that there's a possibility that the rights to show highlights might have been sold this year, in which case you'd have to find out who has those rights in your country. Highlights are usually uploaded 30 mins – 2 hours after the end of a match, although I did read that AI in their new media centre will be producing highlights within a few minutes of the match ending...

Choosing a team

If any of you want to pick a team to support, if you give some criteria in the comments I can help by suggesting a team, but I'll leave some info here based on what I think could be some common ways to pick a team.
If looking good is your primary concern, here's an imgur album of all home and away K League kits. This album has the kits from both K League 1 & K League 2, so of you're only interested in the top flight you'll have to ignore a few. If looking good is really important to you, there's one particular corner of the internet that has already given their seal of approval to Daegu FC.
If you want to support your countrymen, here's a list of all foreigners playing in K League 1. There's no 🇺🇸Americans this year (Mix Diskerud was on loan at Ulsan last year, but he's returned to Man City), but Johnsen who plays for Ulsan was born and grew up in the US. 🇵🇹Portuguese Jose Morais is manager of Jeonbuk, formerly assistant manager to Mourinho.
Club AFC slot
Busan 🇧🇷Vintecinco 🇧🇷Rômulo 🇧🇷Reis 🇺🇿Tursunov
Daegu 🇧🇷Césinha 🇧🇷Edgar 🇲🇪Dejan 🇯🇵Tsubasa
Gangwon 🇯🇵Nakazato
Gwangju 🇧🇷Felipe 🇧🇷Willyan 🇨🇷Ureña 🇺🇿Ashurmatov
Incheon 🇧🇦Bunoza 🇲🇪Mugosa 🇳🇬Kehinde 🇦🇺Mahazi
Jeonbuk 🇧🇷Murilo 🇿🇦Veldwijk 🇯🇵Kunimoto
Pohang 🇨🇴Palacios 🇷🇺Iljutcenko 🇷🇸Palocevic 🇦🇺O'Neill
Seongnam 🇭🇷Jovanovic 🇭🇷Kis 🇺🇿Iskanderov
FC Seoul 🇧🇷Adriano 🇪🇦Osmar 🇷🇸Pesic 🇺🇿Alibaev
Suwon 🇦🇺Antonis 🇧🇦Krpic 🇨🇦Henry 🇦🇺Taggart
Ulsan 🇧🇷Junior 🇳🇱Bulthuis 🇳🇴Johnsen 🇦🇺Davidson
There's a lack of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿English representation this year, but if you're looking for some familarity, there's a handful of South Koreans who have played in the English pyramid:
Other Koreans who had a stint in the 'top 5 leagues' include Park Joo-ho (Ulsan), Hong Jeong-ho, Kim Jin-su (both with Jeonbuk now), Yun Jun-tae (now with FC Seoul), and Kim Kyung-joong (now with Gangwon).
This short hype video also serves to show all club crests if you want to base a decision on that.
submitted by loser0001 to soccer [link] [comments]

2020 K League very mini preview

Delayed by coronavirus by 10 weeks, Asia's oldest professional league is finally here
Contents:

The impact of coronavirus

The K League season was postponed in late February, 5 days before it was meant to kick off. Training was allowed to continue, although friendlies against other teams were banned. South Korea's response to the virus has widely been considered "very good", and so talks took place in April about resuming the season soon after friendlies were allowed again.
Clubs initially ruled out opening behind closed doors due to their reliance on gate receipts for their finances, but I guess they changed their minds on that, as there will be no crowd at the beginning with no date set for opening the doors. However, given that South Korea held a general election with their highest ever voter turnout a few weeks ago, with no apparent subsequent impact on coronavirus numbers, I'm hopeful there will be a crowd in the near future. New cases in South Korea have been about 10 per day for the past few weeks, and a majority of those have been arrivals from abroad. Social distancing is set to be relaxed from Wednesday, moving into a new phase of "everyday life quarantine", with public facilities and schools ready to reopen.
The K League 1 season is normally 38 games, but will be reduced to 27 games for this year - each of the 12 teams will play each other twice, and then after round 22 the table will "split" for the final 5 games. A league champion will only be crowned if at least 22 games are played.
If any player or coach tests positive, their team will not play for at least 2 weeks. No staff or players connected with K League clubs were reported as testing positive during the outbreak, and last week all players, coaches, and support staff in K League 1 & K League 2 were tested prior to the start of the season, all testing negative.
One interesting side-effect of the delay is that the K League will be the first to implement the new 2020-2021 IFAB rules, which bring a bit more common sense into penalising a goalkeeper for coming off their line for a penalty, and only penalise an accidental handball from the attacker if it happens immediately before a goal.

How do I get into it?

You could just start watching, but you might want to know a bit more about what you're watching. There are only a handful of English-language websites that cover the K League. Probably the most comprehensive overview can be found on this webpage, which basically serves as an index for a lot more content, but you can pick and choose what you want to read. If you want something a bit more digestable, I've been making OC on reddit over the past year, and if you read some of it, you'd be as well-informed as most who watch it:
Guide to 2019 K League - perhaps a bit wordy, but could be worth a skim - not much changes in the space of a year anyway.
Korean derbies - reddit really loves a derby. Here I tried to cover the main ones within the top flight with a bit of history, some stories, and significant matches.
Season in review: 2019 K League - my recap of the season past. It was actually pretty exciting, with the title race going to the final day and decided on a single goal scored.
I've also made this map so that you can get an idea of where each club is geographically. Stadium pictures are included.

Matchday 1

There is no Supercup/Community Shield in Korea, but the first match of the season is arranged to be the previous season's League champions vs the FA Cup winners. This means it's Jeonbuk vs Suwon on Friday. The smart money will be on a Jeonbuk win, but the dollarydoos will be on Suwon. Given that nobody's played a league match since 1st December last year though, everything's a bit unpredictable.
The K League 1 matchday 1 kick-off times are as follows:
Friday 8th May 19:00 local time (10:00 GMT) Jeonbuk vs Suwon
Saturday 9th May 14:00 local time (05:00 GMT) Ulsan vs Sangju Sangmu
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT) Incheon vs Daegu
19:00 local time (10:00 GMT) Gwangju vs Seongnam
Sunday 10th May 14:00 local time (05:00 GMT) Pohang vs Busan
16:30 local time (07:30 GMT) Gangwon vs FC Seoul

The off-season

The main transfers that I can remember include
Ki Sung-yueng almost returned to the K League but talks broke down due to some weird contract clause that FC Seoul still had over him, leading Ki to write this very mature message on his instagram and head off to Spain:
Hurt me with a lie and I can hurt you with the truth...stop playing with me u ain't gonna like when I play back
There were of course many many more transfers in the winter window, but many were not that interesting.
What everyone should be interested in is the K League mascot "class president election", a popular vote for the K League's favourite mascot. It was a two horse race between Daegu's adorable Rica the hedgehog, and the prince of darkness, Suwon Bluewing's Aguileon. Actually I'm not sure which one the prince of darkness is. To my dismay, Aguileon managed to take 1st place, leading Rica by over 1,000 votes. Although he only came 7th, I also want to give special mention to Jeju United's orange.
There were big changes in the lower leagues, as three divisions were merged into two, sorting out the confusing naming schemes, and removing barriers to promotion and relegation throughout the pyramid. The two new divisions are semi-pro, called K3 League and K4 League, sitting below the professional K League 2, and above the amateur K5 league. The long-standing target of having pro/rel with K League 2 "within 5 years" now actually looks possible.

How do I watch it?

Watching live
Watching K League outside of Korea used to be tricky and in Western markets the rights were typically hoovered up by sites like Bet365.
Interest abroad for K League rights are heightened now, so this year there are at least some countries that have been confirmed to broadcast K League, mainly in Asia and Eastern Europe. There are rumours of France, Germany, Italy, Australia, and USA (ESPN?) being interested in the rights, but nothing confirmed yet.
If you don't live in a country that has broadcasting rights, there is still a way to watch online from a proper source. If you can get yourself a Korean IP address, i.e. using a VPN, it's very easy to watch many of the matches in a (mostly?) legal way. If you're using a browser simply head to the Korean web portal Naver (https://sports.naver.com/kfootball/index.nhn), and when there's a match on, it will appear at the top of the webpage, usually with some indication that live video is available. Click on it and start watching. (Note that I haven't checked if it's this straightforward on desktop; I don't own a computer. There's a chance you might be asked to install a browser add-on or something - you can ask in the comments here or on the sub if you need help). An alternative if you're on mobile is to install the "Naver TV" app and find a match in the Live tab. You can also watch back full matches that were shown on Naver if you miss it live.
In less-legal ways to watch, if you look at old posts on the sub you might find something.
One thing to consider about live matches is the time difference - in the winter months, matches kick off around 5am or 7am GMT. In the summer months, kick off is ~10am or 11am GMT. However, for the first couple of weekends the kick-off times are spread throughout the day, so you should be able to catch a game wherever you are.
Watching highlights
If an inconvenient time difference is putting you off, you can still enjoy K League even if you don't watch live. Every single match gets a high quality ~10 minute highlight video produced that is region-free on YouTube. Just imagine you're watching MOTD but without the bad punditry. The official K League channel, should be hosting these videos again this year, but I should include the disclaimer that there's a possibility that the rights to show highlights might have been sold this year, in which case you'd have to find out who has those rights in your country. Highlights are usually uploaded 30 mins – 2 hours after the end of a match, although I did read that AI in their new media centre will be producing highlights within a few minutes of the match ending...

Choosing a team

If any of you want to pick a team to support, if you give some criteria in the comments I can help by suggesting a team, but I'll leave some info here based on what I think could be some common ways to pick a team.
If looking good is your primary concern, here's an imgur album of all home and away K League kits. This album has the kits from both K League 1 & K League 2, so of you're only interested in the top flight you'll have to ignore a few. If looking good is really important to you, there's one particular corner of the internet that has already given their seal of approval to Daegu FC.
If you want to support your countrymen, here's a list of all foreigners playing in K League 1. There's no 🇺🇸Americans this year (Mix Diskerud was on loan at Ulsan last year, but he's returned to Man City), but Johnsen who plays for Ulsan was born and grew up in the US. 🇵🇹Portuguese Jose Morais is manager of Jeonbuk, formerly assistant manager to Mourinho.
Club AFC slot
Busan 🇧🇷Vintecinco 🇧🇷Rômulo 🇧🇷Reis 🇺🇿Tursunov
Daegu 🇧🇷Césinha 🇧🇷Edgar 🇲🇪Dejan 🇯🇵Tsubasa
Gangwon 🇯🇵Nakazato
Gwangju 🇧🇷Felipe 🇧🇷Willyan 🇨🇷Ureña 🇺🇿Ashurmatov
Incheon 🇧🇦Bunoza 🇲🇪Mugosa 🇳🇬Kehinde 🇦🇺Mahazi
Jeonbuk 🇧🇷Murilo 🇿🇦Veldwijk 🇯🇵Kunimoto
Pohang 🇨🇴Palacios 🇷🇺Iljutcenko 🇷🇸Palocevic 🇦🇺O'Neill
Seongnam 🇭🇷Jovanovic 🇭🇷Kis 🇺🇿Iskanderov
FC Seoul 🇧🇷Adriano 🇪🇦Osmar 🇷🇸Pesic 🇺🇿Alibaev
Suwon 🇦🇺Antonis 🇧🇦Krpic 🇨🇦Henry 🇦🇺Taggart
Ulsan 🇧🇷Junior 🇳🇱Bulthuis 🇳🇴Johnsen 🇦🇺Davidson
There's a lack of 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿English representation this year, but if you're looking for some familarity, there's a handful of South Koreans who have played in the English pyramid:
Other Koreans who had a stint in the 'top 5 leagues' include Park Joo-ho (Ulsan), Hong Jeong-ho, Kim Jin-su (both with Jeonbuk now), Yun Jun-tae (now with FC Seoul), and Kim Kyung-joong (now with Gangwon).
This short hype video also serves to show all club crests if you want to base a decision on that.
submitted by loser0001 to KLeague [link] [comments]

If you are not watching the Premier League, here is why you are missing out on the greatest underdog fairytale in the history of any professional sport.

Leicester City (pronounced Les-ter), or the Foxes, are a relatively insignificant team. They are often fighting for a mid-table place in the Premier League, just as often slugging it out in lower leagues.
The way the league works is simple: 20 teams play against each other, at home and away, adding up to 38 matches in total. You get 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss, and the team with the most points at the end of the season wins. Unlike in American sports, there are no playoffs in the Premier League. This means that a team can't make it to the playoffs, then catch fire and take the trophy home. No one wins the Premier League by luck or by going on a hot streak at just the right time. They win by being consistently the best over the course of a year. It's not at all unusual for an underdog team to get off to a great start, before eventually dropping down the table as their good form inevitably wears off. It's a long and psychologically grueling season, and it's difficult to keep up the same level over a year, especially once star players get injuries. Over the course of an entire season, the top teams rise to where they belong. A team can easily finish last despite beating the eventual champions. Imagine if the Miracle on Ice players had to play in a league over an entire year - would they finish above the Soviet Union? A title-winning team needs not just to have star players, but also a sufficiently deep squad so that other top quality players can step in when the stars are injured. This is why "little" teams simply do not win the league.
In addition, the Premier League is ruthlessly capitalist. Teams that finish poorly don't get first pick of promising young players, but are instead severely punished with relegation (more on that in the next paragraph). There are no salary caps. The teams with the most money buy up the best players, and those that win trophies and enter elite competitions like the Champions League get huge cash prizes, and attract even more top players, perpetuating the cycle of inequality. Top teams also have the best trainers, the best physios, the best facilities, the best talent scouts. There is a huge disparity in resources and quality between the top teams and the bottom ones, and no real mechanisms to even things up. The same teams almost always finish in the top 4. From 1992-2015 only five teams won the Premier League. The last time a team won the league without having won it before was 38 years ago.
Finishing in the bottom 3 positions (out of 20) is not just humiliating; it's utterly disastrous. It means being relegated to a lower division, which means a subsequent loss of TV money, less fans coming to the stadium since they won't get to see any games against "big" teams and players, and an inevitable loss of that team's best players, who don't want to settle for playing in the lower divisions, and whose salaries the club probably can't afford with the reduced income. Meanwhile, the top 2 finishing teams from the lower division secure automatic promotion, while those who place 3-6 will go to a playoff to decide who will clinch that third promotion spot. The promotion and relegation system makes the stakes incredibly high, and a team that has been relegated may struggle years to go back to the top flight, if they ever make it back at all.
Ok, back to Leicester. An 18th-place finish in the 2003-04 season saw Leicester relegated to the Championship (the second division of English football). The next few years they would struggle to retain their position in the Championship. After a poor 2007-08 season, they sank even lower to League One (which, confusingly, is the third division of English football).
They would climb their way back out of League One at the first attempt. The following season, Leicester were widely touted as favourites to win promotion back to the Premier League, but the next three seasons would prove disappointing. In 2013 they finally barely snuck into 6th place, high enough to secure a place in the play-offs for a promotion spot, but lost in absolutely incredible fashion to Watford.
It was the semi-final of the play-offs, a two-legged tie. Leicester saw out the first match in a 1-0 win. Next they had to go to Watford to see out the tie. Watford fought back on their turf, and as the match was winding down the score was 2-1, meaning that on aggregate they stood tied at 2-2. Extra time, and perhaps a penalty shootout beckoned. Then, with just a few seconds left on the clock, Leicester were awarded a penalty to book their spot into the final. What happened next... I will not even describe. Do yourself a favour and watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWSc3-NACSY
Following this heartbreak, Leicester would come back stronger, finishing in first place in 2013-14, securing automatic promotion after 10 years out of the top flight.
Their first season back started promisingly, with a few initial decent results, most notably a stunning 5-3 win over Manchester United. Then misery followed, and after months of terrible results Leicester sat rock bottom with only 9 matches left to play. It looked certain that the door back into the Championship stood open after just one season with the big boys.
Incredibly, Leicester managed to win 7 of their last 9 matches to secure probably the most miraculous escape in Premier League history, finishing the season safely in 14th place.
Scandal struck the club during the summer. A sex tape of three Foxes players having an orgy in a Bangkok hotel room with some Thai women leaked out. The players shouted racist abuse including "slit eye." One of the players happened to be the son of Foxes manager Nigel Pearson. Leicester's Thai owner was not amused, and Pearson and the three players were subsequently let go. The inspirational manager who had dragged Leicester out of the Championship and led them to that miraculous escape would not be there to guide the ship the following season.
No one was particularly impressed with Pearson's replacement, Claudio Ranieri. He had not managed any Premier League team since Chelsea in 2004 – back in 2004 he was shown the door by new billionaire investor Roman Abramovich, who felt Ranieri wasn’t a sufficiently glamorous manager and brought in Jose Mourinho. Ranieri had since had mixed success with various Italian teams, and his most recent job was manager of Greece – a job that ended in disgrace after just a few months, following a humiliating defeat by the Faroe Islands (yes, that place with a population of 50 thousand which is not even a country). In retrospect, there was a precedent for what Ranieri was about to do with Leicester - in two seasons at Monaco he led the club out of the French Ligue 2 (less confusingly, the second division in France) and the next season finished in second place with 80 points, the highest points tally ever achieved by a team in the French league without winning. Still, he had been unbelievably unimpressive at Greece.
Things did not look good for Leicester. Ranieri was the odds-on favourite to be the first to lose his job. Their squad was made up mostly of unknown players and a few scraps from the table of bigger clubs, including Robert Huth and Danny Simpson, discarded from Chelsea and Manchester United, respectively, for not being good enough (Huth, in fairness, had since made a name for himself as a rock-solid defender at Stoke, but he seemed by now to be past his prime). Their most expensive signing of the summer was N’Golo Kante, brought in from French team Caen - not exactly a blockbuster signing. With this context, it's easy to understand why, going into the 2015-16 season, Leicester were favourites for relegation.
Leicester came flying out in their first match with a 4-2 win over Sunderland, and went undefeated their first 6 matches, the only Premier League team to do so. After a 2-5 spanking at home by contenders Arsenal, their hot streak appeared to be over, and the universe seemed to be back in order.
Undeterred, the Foxes would continue flying. They played extremely energetic, rapid, and deadly counter-attacking football. They were well organized at the back, with all the players knowing their jobs, doing them well, winning the ball and getting it quickly into one of their devastating counter-attacks, sprinting across the pitch like a pack of wild, well, foxes. And three previously unknown quantities – N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez, and Jamie Vardy, started pulling off astonishing performances. As they continued winning week after week, the pundits picked up on a fascinating statistic: 28-year-old goalscorer Jamie Vardy was about to become a record-breaker. But first, more about Vardy. If you thought this was an impressive rags-to-riches story up until now, you haven’t heard anything yet.
Jamie Vardy dreamt of being a professional footballer, but at the age of 16 he was released from the youth academy of Sheffield Wednesday, a team now playing in the Championship. He wasn’t cut out for it. Nevertheless Vardy kept playing semi-professionally for minnows Stocksbridge Park Steels, a team in the seventh tier of English football. He would spend 7 years there, working 12-hour shifts at a factory to support himself and playing on the weekends for £30 a match. At one point, after being charged with assault (according to Vardy, he was sticking up for a deaf friend that was being picked on), he had a 6pm curfew enforced and had to wear an ankle bracelet. Sometimes he had to be subbed off an hour into a match so he could jump into his dad's car to avoid breaking his curfew.
After some impressive displays, he was signed by Halifax Town, a team then in the sixth tier. He finished as the league’s top goalscorer and helped his team win promotion before signing for Fleetwood Town, now in the fifth tier. Again he finished top scorer, and again he helped his team win promotion. His impressive performances got him a call from Leicester. Finally, in 2012, at the age of 25, when most players would expect to have a few years of experience behind them, Vardy could call himself a pro.
Vardy’s first season was poor, prompting criticism from sceptical fans: what the hell was Leicester thinking, signing a player from three divisions below? However in the 2013-14 season he started showing what he could do, and his 16 goals helped Leicester to get back into the Premier League. Early on in the next season, he turned in a man-of-the-match performance against Manchester United, scoring one goal and setting up the other four in that 5-3 win. Along with the rest of his team, he would fail to make much of a mark for the rest of the season, but came to life at the crucial moment, playing a key role in Leicester’s miraculous escape.
Like Leicester, Vardy got off to a blistering start to the 2015-16 season, scoring in the first match of the season. Failing to net in the next two games, he then scored again in the fourth match. And in the fifth. And in the sixth. Twice in the seventh. He scored again in the eighth. Twice in the ninth. And in the tenth. By the twelfth match of the season, Jamie Vardy, who five years earlier worked in a factory, was the top goalscorer of the most competitive league in the world, and he had now scored nine games in a row.
The Premier League record for goals scored in most consecutive matches, 10, had been set in 2002 by Manchester United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy, one of the greatest attacking players since the new millennium. Could Vardy match the great van Nistelrooy?
Could he ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUKsTmDjEb0
Having equaled the record, there was one more challenge left: could he BEAT it? Well, what better opposition to go for it than against Manchester United themselves?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot80PrLmkv0
By the way, did I mention that Vardy did all of this with a broken wrist?
At the end of 2015, Leicester made history: they were the only team to ever go from being bottom of the league on Christmas Day one season to top of the league on Christmas Day the next season. Meanwhile, Ranieri got his revenge over Abramovich and Mourinho: Leicester City's victory over Chelsea on December 14 was the final straw in an incomprehensibly dreadful season for defending champions Chelsea. Jose Mourinho, the glamorous manager brought in all those years ago to replace the unfashionable Ranieri, was fired from his second stint at the club that catapulted him to true stardom.
Thanks for playing, Leicester, everyone said. But it’s time for the fairytale to end. Surely these plucky underdogs would start to feel the pressure, would fall apart at some point?
Last weekend was the true test. Leicester faced title favourites Manchester City. Manchester City, until very recently, were a club mired in mediocrity, having undergone a long decline after some golden years in the late 60s. In 2008, the club was purchased by the Abu Dhabi United Group, a private equity company owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Overnight, this once middling team was one of the richest in the world. A slew of huge money signings brought a wealth of talented players, finally translating into first place success in the league in 2012 and 2014. Manchester City are for many a symbol of everything that is wrong with the hyper-capitalist world of football: all you need is a billionaire investor with a blank check, and the success will come.
Just to put the gap in resources into context between these two teams: Leicester’s starting line-up cost a grand total of £22.5 million to put together. Last summer, Manchester City brought in Raheem Sterling for a reported £49 million.
That’s right: ONE of Manchester City’s players cost more than TWICE AS MUCH money as Leicester’s ENTIRE first team put together.
Surely, surely, order would be restored?
Well, Leicester hadn’t read the script. http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/02/06/manchester-city-vs-leicester-city-highlights-full-match/
It was vintage Leicester: good organisation combined with terrifyingly fast counter-attacks. They went to the richest team in the country, and they didn’t just beat them. They carved them apart, repeatedly, in front of their fans, on their own turf. And they did it in a thrilling, entertaining way that was an advertisement to everyone about why this sport is so great. Player-of-the-season Riyad Mahrez was at his scintillating best, bamboozling the Manchester City defence with a brilliant goal. N'Golo Kante was huge in midfield, charging down the ball and starting counter-attacks. Robert Huth, the Chelsea reject, was a beast at the back and bagged himself two goals.
Leicester now sit five points clear on first place. They are well over the halfway mark. No one is talking any longer about when they will fall away. They are odds-on favourites to take the whole thing. If they do, it will be an unbelievable accomplishment. This weekend, they travel to London to take on contenders Arsenal, one of only two teams who have beaten them (the other being Liverpool) early in the season. Whatever happens, it will be thrilling.
EDIT: LEICESTER ARE CHAMPIONS. UNBELIEVABLE. Since more people are being linked to this post I've added a couple more explanations on how the league system basically works, for those that know very little, and corrected a couple factual inaccuracies (yes, Manchester City fans, you are absolutely right, Leicester and Man City did not have a similar amount of titles before 2008, sorry about that).
Also bet365 has 100/1 odds on Leicester winning the Champions League next season. It's not quite 5000/1 but it might be worth putting a quid on it.
My inbox has not been silent at pretty much any point during the last few months. The replies I've most enjoyed getting have been the "I don't usually watch this sport but this season I'm watching every game." Welcome to the greatest sport in the world.
I'm still getting over this. If you had told anyone a year ago that Wes Morgan would be one of the top defenders of the season, or Kasper Schmeichel one of the top goalkeepers, you would have been ridiculed. If you had started raving over Riyad Mahrez (now officially Player of the Season), you would have gotten a one-word response: "who?"
submitted by hipcatjazzalot to sports [link] [comments]

[Match Thread] Dortmund - Juventus (CL, RO16)

Borussia Dortmund0 - 3FC Juventus
Aggregate1 - 5Advancing: Juventus
Champions League, round of 16, 2nd leg
Stadium: Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund
Kick off: 20:45 CET (UTC+1)
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
The Teams
Team Borussia Dortmund FC Juventus
Subreddit /BorussiaDortmund /Juve
Last 5 league matches WLWDD DWDWW
Line-up 4-2-3-1 4-4-2 Diamond
Weidenfeller (GK) Buffon (GK) (C)
Sokratis Lichtsteiner
Subotic Chiellini
Hummels (C) Bonucci
Kirch 45' Evra
Blaszczykowski 64' Marchioso
Gündogan Vidal
Ramos 64' Barzagli 27'
Reus 73' Pereyra
Kampl Pepe 81'
Aubameyang Matri 77'
Bench Langerak (GK) Storari (GK)
Bender 64' Pogba 27'
Kagawa Ogbonna
Kehl Padoin
Schmelzer 45' Llorente
Immobile Morata 70' 77'
Mkhitaryan 64' Tevez 3' 79' 81'
Coach Klopp Allegri
Unavailable players:
  • Borussia Dortmund: Piszczek (injured), Sahin (injured), Großkreutz (injured)
  • FC Juventus: Pirlo (injured), Caceres (injured), Romulo (injured), Asamoah (injured)
Outlook
The stats couldn't possibly closer for this old international rivalry that decided 2 international competitions so far. The squads have a total market value of €322m. vs. €318m., average player market values of €11.9m. vs. €10.6m, both have 19 players in national teams, the total amount of club members are just as equal at 111'000 vs. 115'000. The (literally) most valuable players are both estimated at ~€50m be it Pogba or Reus, and neither looks to leave their club any time soon.
The 2 teams met each other a total of 8 times, including the UEFA-Cup final of 1993 and the Champions League final of 1997. In general, Turin won 5 times, Dortmund twice, once they drew. In the CL alone however, both won twice against the other so far. The total goal difference is 17:11 in favour of Juvents, in the CL however it's drawn at 7:7 goals.
With the 2:1 from the 1st leg, any goal can decide the game today. Dortmund needs a win or they're out, but the Juventus most likely can't sit back either - if Dortmund scores a single goal, Juve would be out on away goals. So whilst they have the advantage going into the game, Juve might want to get that important away goal themselves.
  • Borussia Dortmund key players: Hummels, Kagawa, Reus, Aubameyang
  • FC Juventus key players: Buffon, Marchioso, Pogba, Tevez
Betting odds - according to bet365.com
Win Dortmund Draw Win Juventus
2.25 3.50 3.40
0 - 1 goals 2 or more goals 4 or more goals
3.40 1.30 3.50
  • Borussia Dortmund advances: 2.50
  • FC Juventus advances: 1.53
Match Updates
0' Kick-off
3' - 0-1 Juventus! Tevez open to shoot from 20m, the ball right into the upper left corner of the goal. That's the away goal for Juventus, now Dortmund need 2. I have to say, that shot was rather stoppable as it was the keeper's corner, regardless of how clean Tevez hit it.
11' Dortmund pressing high, applying pressure towards the Juve box, but not finding a real way in so far.
15' Lichststeiner taking the chance and shoots from a bit out, but Weidenfeller can clear the attempt.
24' The game starts getting really dirty, lots of fouls. Vidal got not carded for some elbow action, and both teams use the lack of cards so far to tune the physicality up a notch.
27' - (1/3) - Pogba, Barzaglo. Pogba forced to leave the field after he got injured after a foul by Sokratis.
31' Hummels with a header after a good set piece from Schmelzer, but the defenders can block it. One of the first balls into the box for Dortmund that actually finds a target.
34' A bit of excitement after a long ball onto Reus, but Buffon comes in and catches it, only to drop it immediately since he's at the edge of the box and leaving it, in order not to have a handball called. Not really dangerous, more a scene for the funny highlight reels later.
45' 1st half is over, Tevez with the goal of the evening so far.
HT - (1/3) - Schmelzer, Kirch
46' 2nd half is on.
50' Morata through and open in front of Weidenfeller, but a great reflex keeps Dortmund in the game. Kinda lucky for the ref as Morata was 2 feet offside on that one.
51' Dortmund with their first dangerous counter of the game after a Juve corner, but Mkhitaryan can't really make much from it.
56' Morata again open in front of Weifenfeller, who yet again saves it. The blame some might put onto him for the 1st goal should be equalled out with those 2 actions.
63' Kampl with Dortmund's best chance of the 2nd half so far, a shot straight at Buffon who has no issue saving it.
64' - (2/3) - Bender, Ramos
64' - (3/3) - Mkhitaryan, Blaszczykowski
70' - 0-2 Juventus! Tevez is through after a deep pass, crosses it to Morata who taps it in. That means OT is no longer possible, and Dortmund now needs 4 goals in 20min. Judging from the game so far, it appears that this is could be the golden ticket.
73' - Reus for complaining. The first yellow of the game, after elbows and stud first tackles.
77' - (2/3) - Morata, Matri
79' - 0-3 Juventus. Tevez with a brace, the final nail in the coffin for Dortmund, and the MOTM for Juventus to get into the RO8. Now Dortmund needs 5 goals in 10min, it's not too far off to assume that this won't happen.
81' - (3/3) - Tevez, Pepe
90' It's over, Juventus wins the 2nd game 3-0 away, and 5-1 on aggregate. A very strong showing from the Italians puts them into the RO8.
Highlights - the place for gifs
Statistics
Borussia Dortmund 45' FC Juventus
63% Possession 37%
2 Shots 5
56% Duells 44%
311 total passes 182
84% Passing accuracy 76%
2 Fouls 8
0 Offsides 1
Borussia Dortmund 90' FC Juventus
56% Possession 44%
8 Shots 11
47% Duells 53%
567 total passes 450
86% Passing accuracy 85%
7 Fouls 10
3 Offsides 2
Streams
submitted by afito to soccer [link] [comments]

/r/Championship's Championship club by club season preview - part 1!

Part 2 here - Part 3 here - Part 4 here

On Friday at 8pm UK time, Reading and Derby County will kick off the 127th season of the English second division - also known as the Championship! 24 clubs will compete for 3 promotion spots to the Premier league (2 via automatic promotion and 1 via playoffs) and to avoid the 3 relegation spots to the third tier a.k.a League One.

Its looking like a really tight and competitive season. The league is absolutely full of ambitious player and managerial talent - the more time goes by the more it looks like a Premier League 2. If you want a competitive league with proper English football, that also has the spice of skilful players and forward thinking managers, it really is the place to go.

This is guide written by the fans who have come together on /Championship - an absolutely huge thanks to them. Do check out the sub, we try to keep it a good place to discuss the EFL, away from the rancid gloryhunting shithole that is /soccer (just kidding - I like this place). Lots going on, including a score predictor thread which is running all season.

This guide is in table order with the PL demoted sides first. Only 5 clubs today (because the Swansea one is a fucking novel and I can't fit any more in), the rest will be submitted tomorrow and Friday. Do bare in mind that not all the transfer news will be up to date as these guides were largely written a week ago. Point out to me if there are any clear errors with formatting or spelling.

Championship info, links and media

/Championship's 17/18 player of the season review

Season previews: The Guardian | Sky Sports | The Mirror
EFL focused podcasts: Not the Top 20 | The Totally Football League Show
The 17/18 table - Wolves, Cardiff and Fulham went up. Barnsley, Burton and Sunderland went down. This season West Brom, Swansea and Stoke join from the PL and Wigan, Blackburn and Rotherham join from League 1.
These are the bookies' favourites for promotion (via Oddschecker):
Club Odds
Stoke 2.75
Middlesbrough 4
West Brom 4
Nottingham Forest 4.5
Leeds 4.75
Swansea 5
And relegation:
Club Odds
Rotherham 2.2
Bolton 2.25
Ipswich 4.5
Reading 5
QPR 6
Hull 6
How to watch in the UK: Live rights are owned by Sky Sports. They are upping the number of televised matches this season. Reading v Derby on Friday is televised. The weekly highlights show previously on Channel 5 is moving to Quest TV, which apparently is on Freeview.
How to watch abroad: Depends, but in most territories, the iFollow Service is available, which is £110 to watch all a single club's matches. Bargain. I think the clubs that aren't on iFollow have their own similar streaming services.
Check out club Youtube channels - quite a few of them post extended highlights now with their own commentary, including Derby, Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday, Brentford and more. (You may need VPN to watch if you're abroad.)

Swansea City by RafiakaMacakaDirk and my_knob_is_gr8

Location: Swansea, Wales
Nickname: Swans, The Jacks
Major honours: Football League Cup (2013), Championship Play-off Winner (2011), League One Winners (1925, 1949, 2008)
17/18 finishing postion: 18th (Premier League)
Transfermarkt squad value: €115.5 mil NOTE: This number is as of July 22nd, when we still have Mawson (€15 mil), A. Ayew (€15 mil), Bony (€10 mil), Clucas (€8 mil) and Fernandez (€8 mil), who are all pretty much expected to be sold, or loaned out, before the season starts. Without all of these players except Bony (who's injured for a while so it makes it unlikely he'll be sold soon), the squad value would be around €70 mil.
Manager: Graham Potter joined the Swans on 11th June 2018. In 2010, he became head coach of Östersund, who were in the fourth tier of Swedish football. 5 years later, he got the club promoted into the Swedish top flight and in 2017, they won Svenska Cupen which qualified them for the Europa League where they managed to get through the group stage. He’s been applauded for what he did at Östersund and the way he managed to build the club up from nothing. The year after his success in the Europa league he signed a 3 year contract with Swansea.
Potter is well respected by The Swans and after a few years of poor managerial and financial decisions his appointment is seen as a step in the right direction to bringing us back to our old ways of being a well-run club. Potter has been recognised for his "progressive" and "unconventional" coaching methods. At Östersund, he encouraged his players and staff to engage in community activities, such as performing in theatre and music productions which was designed to take them out of their comfort zone. Potter describes his style of football on the pitch as "tactically flexible, attacking, and possession-based". At Östersund, he deployed a flexible 3–5–2 formation centred on ball possession.
Best player(s)/ talisman:With many of our best players being rumoured with a move away what good players that remain at the start of the season is yet to be seen.
Alfie Mawson is probably our standout player. He’s been amazing for us since we got him and was a bargain at about £3m. He’s great in the air and is just an all round tank. Keeping him will be a huge boost for us and should be solid in the championship.
Federico "El Pajaro" Fernandez has also been strong at the back with Alfie. The pair played with each other for the majority of last season and together became a solid unit. We will most likely sell him to reduce wages though.
Jordan Ayew put in a great shift last season and was our top goal scorer. His work rate was immense and was able to drop back and defend when needed. He’s fast, able to beat a man and a decent finisher. Sadly all these players are transfer targets for other clubs and might not even be here at the start of the season. If we can keep a lot of our players we should have a decent season but who knows who'll be left by the end of the window…
Rising star: Swansea’s U23 had a great season last year and with Potter wanting a young and fresh squad, a handful have moved up into the first team.
Our standout youngster, Oliver McBurnie, joined Barnsley on loan in January last season where he went on to win a Championship player of the month award after 6 goals in 8 games and went on to win Barnsley’s Player of the year award. While only 22, he’s struggled to break into our first team but will most likely be our main striker for the coming season. Be on the lookout for his long legs, miniature shinpads and ridiculous sock length! LEGS LEGS LEGS!!!
Connor Roberts performed well at RB last season and adapted quickly to the premier league where he battled Kyle Naughton to be in the starting line up and did great when given the chance. Decent at going forward and professional at the back. Hopefully potter puts him ahead of Naughton.
What happened last season?: What Happened last season?: After our great escape the season before and with Paul Clement at the helm there was optimism that the 17/18 season could be our turning point where we start rebuilding 'The Swansea Way". How wrong we were.
After a disastrous transfer window where we sold Sigurdsson and never replaced him and started panic buying the week before the transfer window closed we were left an obvious hole in our team. We had no creativity in midfield and no one could kick the ball into the box to save their life. And just to rub it in further Renato Sanches turned out to be more disappointing than Bob Bradley. With the team sitting bottom of the table Clement was sacked in late December.
Then along came the wise talking Carlos Carvalhal who managed to rebuild the confidence the team had lost. Our results took a turn for the good, beating Liverpool, Arsenal, Burnley and West Ham consecutively at home. He pulled us out of the relegation zone and things were looking good. However, the good times were quickly followed by the bad times. Our form turned and we didn’t win a single one of our last 9 matches. We were quickly relegated after pitifully losing to both Southampton and Stoke in our last 2 games of the season.
Highlights (Or lowlights):
The pass by Renato Sanches that summed up his and our season
Swansea City 3-1 Arsenal
Summer transfer business (so far): At the end of last season, it was clear we needed several transfers, both in and out. However, this would all depend on the manager we got.
Yan Dhanda (Free, Liverpool): A 19 year-old Midfielder, Yan Dhanda left Liverpool this summer and joined the Swans in a free, before we even hired Graham Potter. At one time one of the most promosing youngsters in Liverpool's Academy, injuries slowed down his progress, and ultimately made him fall behind other players. Citing lack of first-team playing time, Dhanda decided to join us this summer in hopes of getting regular playing time in the senior squad. Through 3 pre-season games, Dhanda has been one of the brighest and most impressive players in the squad, even scoring a game-winning goal and smashing a penalty in a shootout against Genoa. With our current injuries and shenanigans involved in our midfield, Dhanda has a good chance of becoming a starter and hopefully guide our midfield during the season.
Jordi Govea (Free, Real Madrid): Another 19 year-old from Ecuador, Jordi was the first signing under Potter. Not much can be said about the lad, but this is what Real Madrid had as his bio:
Jordi is an Ecuadorian defender who possess three key qualities for a player in his position: he's skilful, is able to go past a player and has a good shot on him. He's left footed and is able to send in good crosses on the run.
With Martin Olsson currently as our starting LB, and Kyle Naughton as the backup, the hope is that Jordi can develop on our U-23 squad and hopefully move up to the senior squad in coming years. Also the only man I've seen do a medical while wearing jeans (https://twitter.com/SwansOfficial/status/1015251916132057089)
Joel Asoro (€2 mil., Sunderland): Yet another 19 year-old, a Swedish winger who has represented his country in the younger levels, he was Potter's first senior signing. With world-class speed, and some impressive skills, Asoro was able to score 3 goals and get 2 assists last season in 26 apperances for Sunderland. While these numbers may seem a bit disappointing, many of these games were sub appearances on a very dysfunctional team. Along with Dhanda, Asoro has been one of the most impressive players during preseason, constantly beating his man with either speed or skills, and whipping in good balls to Legs. At the current rate, Asoro appears to have a good chance of starting on the right wing spot, with Nathan Dyer and Luciano Narsingh backing him up.
Predicted starting XI: NOTE: This is gonna be assuming Mawson, A. Ayew, Clucas, and Fernandez are all sold by the start of the season. If by some reason they end up staying, they are pretty much guaranteed to start. Based on the pre-season games so far, a lineup looking like this would be plausible, with Rodon most likely to be replaced by a CB (possibly Scott McKenna) when we buy one. Our second unit is looking something like this.
Best case scenario: Graham Potter is able to motivate and make sure our senior players (Fer, Carroll, etc.) stay fit, along with our youngsters being able to make an impact as expected, and also we retain Mawson, Fernandez, and Clucas, we can finish in the top 2 and get promoted automatically.
Worst case scenario: Our worst case scenario, and something many of us fear of happening, consists of primarily 3 things. 1. Graham Potter isn't given enough time to build an identity with our squad and is sacked by the midway point of the season by the greedy, dumb American owners. . 2. We end up not replacing the players we sold properly like last summer, therefore having a squad with holes everywhere and no chemistry. 3. Our youngsters such as Asoro, McBurnie, Dhanda and company don't pan out and progress at all, thefore becoming mediocre players. This would all culminate in us looking like Sunderland, and making relegation a probability.
Prediction: Realistically I see us selling Mawson and company in the last days before the season starts and not replacing them properly until later on. Because of this, as well as our current injuries with Fer and Clucas, I can see us initially struggling to build an identity but over time, we will start playing like Potter wants us and finishing the season strongly.
8th place, missing the play-offs by 4 points
What will happen to your closest rivals?: The scum that is known as Cardiff City will break the record for lowest points ever accumulated in a Premier League season, getting 5 points all from draws, and will therefore get relegated with 17 games to spare.

West Bromwich Albion by Joelwba

Location: The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, West Midlands
Nickname: The Baggies, The Throstles
Major honours: 1x League title, 1x League Cup, 5x FA Cup
17/18 finishing postion: 20th in Premier League (relegated)
Transfermarkt squad value: £101.16m
Manager: Darren Moore or Big Dave as he's known to Albion fans. A club icon as a player in the early 2000s, he returned to look after our U23 squad before being promoted to assistant manager by Alan Pardew in January. Following the end of Pardew's horrific reign, Moore took temporary charge with Albion facing inevitable relegation. He led us to wins over Newcastle, Spurs, Man Utd and a draw with Liverpool, somehow taking our futile battle for survival to the final week of the season. Following this he earned the head coach role permanently. Moore is loved among the Albion faithful, largely due to his reputation as a player here. He heavily favours a 4-4-2 formation and at the back end of last season, tended to soak up pressure and play on the counter attack. It will be interesting to see how his approach differs in a league where we are one of the favourites, not fighting to survive (hopefully)
Best player(s)/ talisman: It's an interesting situation for Albion currently. There are plenty of Premier League quality players still in the squad. A lot depends on if they are picked off before the deadline shuts. Chris Brunt is a club stalwart and likely to be reappointed as captain. He is adored by the fans and in my opinion will be an incredible asset in the championship. His set pieces alone will bring 10+ goals to the side. Kieran Gibbs is a high quality player who appears to be set to stay and should make a big difference. Jay Rodriguez, Craig Dawson, Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli should all make a big difference in this division IF they stay. In all honesty I expect to lose a few of the above. Sam Johnstone appears to be an astute signing to replace the outgoing Ben Foster.
Rising star: Sam Field he's one of our own! He looked completely at home against some of the top Premier League sides last campaign. A box-to-box midfielder, he's full of energy and looks so comfortable on the ball. I expect him to be a major part of our side this season, having just signed a new long-term deal.
Kyle Edwards is an exciting attacking midfielder who has been impressing in pre-season. He may have a part to play following a loan spell at Exeter last campaign.
Jonathon Leko looked like a potential world-beater when he first came through a couple of years back. A lightning quick winger full of tricks. A loan spell at Bristol City and limited appearances later he seems to be losing his way. Will be an interesting one to watch.
Finally, the enigma that is Olly Burke. After signing with us last summer for £15m, he failed to impress any of the four managers we had over the season. He looks exciting when he comes on, without any end product so far, and was unfairly blamed for a loss at West Ham by Alan 'Coward' Pardew. We all know the talent he's got. Hopefully we can see it this season.
What happened last season?: Let's not talk about it... We finally escaped the stranglehold of Tony Pulis, only to opt for the human joke that is Alan Pardew and duly hurtled towards relegation. Four of our players stole a taxi and then played (and lost) the following weekend.
Pardew was sacked about 3 months too late, and Moore took over, restoring pride with some notable wins over Man Utd and Spurs.
This season we also lost the great Cyrille Regis, and the outpouring of emotion and the coming together of the club during the weeks after his passing was something special.
Summer transfer business (so far): We started by releasing Claudio Yacob, Boaz Myhill and Gareth McAuley. Yacob and McAuley will be greatly missed but it is perhaps the right time for them to go.
Jonny Evans departed for Leicester for a cut-price £3m, Ben Foster left for Watford and James McClean has departed for Stoke City.
Sam Johnstone has been bought in to replace Foster, with Jonathon Bond arriving as backup. Kyle Bartley has joined from Swansea City and it appears that Harvey Barnes will soon be arriving on loan from Leicester.
Finally, James Morrison is currently out of contract but still with the club. His future is uncertain.
I am very happy with Johnstone and Bartley. It has been a quiet window for Albion so far but that is largely a good thing. The squad is packed with Premier League talent and the window is more about keeping hold of them.
There is major interest in Dawson and Rondon, along with interest in Rodriguez, Hegazi and Chadli. If any of the above go, then we would need to replace. Otherwise I would be happy with another striker and another CB.
It is also worth mentioning that every player in the Albion side suffered a 50% wage cut upon relegation which means that we are financially sound despite relegation, but may lead to more big names leaving.
Predicted starting XI: This is my best attempt. It will undoubtedly be 4-4-2. We may see Nyom in at right back and perhaps Barry in for Field.
Obviously about half of this side could leave, so we shall see.
Best case scenario: The bulk of the side remains and the quality in the side shines through as we breeze to automatic promotion.
Worst case scenario: The better players leave or do not put the effort in. Moore cannot transfer his great start into his first full season in management. We become embroiled in a relegation battle
Prediction: It will be somewhere in the middle. I'd like to think we'll go up automatically but I think play-offs are more likely. 6th
What will happen to your closest rivals?: Villa won't go down but will settle into mid-table, despite the recent takeover.
I think Wolves will do well in the PL, although I don't know how long Nuno will last before a big club comes in.

Stoke City by mrmariomaster

Location: Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Nickname: The Potters
Stadium: bet365 Stadium, 30,089 seats
Major honours: 1972 League Cup
17/18 finishing position: 19th, Premier League
Squad value: £127.8 million
Manager: Gary Rowett signed from Derby in May. His honest attitude has brought lots of optimism to fans, who are looking forward to an overhaul of the Club. His style of play seems to change based on the squad he has available.
Best Player: Joe Allen was vital to the Club last season, giving us hope that we would avoid relegation. His massive new contract signed this summer shows how loyal and committed to the Club he is, and will be a vital player this season.
Rising star: Tom Edwards is a local lad who has won the Under 18 Player of the Year award twice in the Club. In the latter parts of last season he played some good first team football.
What happened last season: A pathetic attempt at a season that had been coming for a while under Mark Hughes. Paul Lambert was appointed in January, but a win rate of just 2 in 15 matches wasn’t enough for him to keep his job and miss out on the million pound bonus offered to him.
Transfer business so far: So far this has been a decent transfer window. Peter Etebo had an amazing World Cup for Nigeria and Benik Afobe looks really promising. Adam Federici has also been appointed to replace Lee Grant. Xherdan Shaqiri has left along with a few players like Stephen Ireland and Glen Johnson who will not be missed. Badou Ndiaye also looks to be on his way out, but it looks like Jack Butland will stay with us, which is massive. Perhaps most surprising are the new contracts signed by our 2 best players last season, Joe Allen and Moritz Bauer.
Predicted Line up: Here is our predicted squad. I’m not sure what formation we will have. EDIT: This is a new version, complete with our rumoured new signings and in the right formation.
Best case scenario: Stoke will finish top with an all-time Championship points record.
Worst case scenario: A mediocre start to the season will see Rowett sacked and Stoke with a disappointing mid-table finish.
Prediction: I think with our squad and our new manager, we will finish 1st.
What will happen to our closest rivals? Port Vale will be relegated to the Vanarama National League.

Aston Villa by trueschoolalumni

Location: Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham B6 6HE
Nickname: The Villans, The Villa, Prince William's Club, David "Twat" Cameron's Second Club.
Major honours: 7 First Division wins, 7 FA Cups, 5 League Cups, 1 European Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 1 Intertoto Cup
17/18 finishing postion: 4th
Transfermarkt squad value: £67.77m and dropping fast
Manager: Steve Bruce (for now). Former Man Utd playing legend who's been a fixture of English football for decades. He joined Villa in 2016 after successful runs at Hull, Sunderland (yes they were good once) and Birmingham City. A bit of a promotion specialist, he's taken Championship clubs up to the Premier League 4 times in the past and just missed out last season, losing 1-0 to Fulham in the Playoff Final. Tactically, he's fairly old school who prefers 4-4-2 or a 4-1-4-1, usually involving a big man up top. Fun fact: while managing Huddersfield in 1999 he wrote three novels, "Striker!", "Sweeper!" and "Defender!", which focus on main character Steve Barnes, a football manager. Barnes solves crime and takes on terrorists, and the books have become prized rarities. The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast managed to get a copy and read out some of the copy - suitably awful.
Best player(s)/ talisman: There's only one Jack Grealish. A Villa boy through and through, he's been with the club since 2001 (aged 6), and made his way into the first team in the 2013-14 season. He's been the centre of controversy a few times, most notably getting on the beers and passing out on a Tenerife street. Playing as a number 10, his quick feet and dribbling skills provide a number of goals and assists, as well as fouls. He probably went down a bit too easily when first in the Premier League, but time in the gym has noticeably toughened him up and he's a much more solid player as a result. One of the better players in the Championship, and due to Villa's abject finances, a transfer target for the likes of Leicester.
Rising star: Keinan Davis could possibly be it, potentially Andre Green and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy as well.
What happened last season?: Have you ever walked into a casino, spotted the roulette table and popped £10,000 on red? It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off. You've doubled your money if you win, but look like a right git if you lose. Villa figured this was a good way to approach 2017-18: spend millions on players, get in lots of loans, gamble everything on achieving promotion. After a so-so start, Bruce got the team playing well, stringing together a number of wins and moving through the playoff spots. Unfortunately they ran into a few teams playing out of their skin - champions Wolves ran away with the league and boasted a squad that included several Champions League players. Neil Warnock's Cardiff couldn't stop winning and grabbed the second automatic promotion. In the playoff final Villa came up against a Ryan Sessegnon-led Fulham and were just pipped at the post 1-0.
Summer transfer business (so far): It's one-way traffic, due to absolutely abysmal finances. Loan spells for Lewis Grabban, Robert Snodgrass, Josh Onomah and Sam Johnstone have all ended, which is almost the spine of the team (Johnstone in particular - he was arguably the best keeper in the Championship and personally bagged a number of wins). Plus clubs are circling to pick off whatever assets we have left (eg. Jack Grealish, James Chester). With no prospect of anyone new coming in, it looks like the youth academy will be getting a lot more game time.
Predicted starting XI: Possibly this, but half these players could be gone before the first match.
Best case scenario: Mid-table anonymity would have to be best case - Villa are a mess and could go down this time around.
Worst case scenario: Our finances are the real issue - they are dire. Villa need to find £9 million this month to avoid going into administration. Owner "Dr." Tony Xia is a billionaire, apparently, but tax bills went unpaid and the question remains if he's able to support the club as generously as he has in the past. Administration, points deductions and potentially relegation to League One are all real possibilities right now. It's not looking good.
Prediction: Due to financial irregularities in the 23 clubs above us, Villa will get into the Champions League and take out the likes of Atletico, Bayern and Real Madrid on the way to our second European Cup. "Taylor, Green, prepared to venture down the left. There's a good ball played in for Jack Grealish. Oh, it must be and it is! It's Keinan Davis!"
What will happen to your closest rivals?: Unfortunately the Scum managed to avoid League One in the final rounds of the season. Here's hoping they go one better. Agbonlahor to re-sign for one game: the Derby. And score the winner, again.

Middlesbrough by OneSmallHuman

Location: The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
Founded: 1876
Nickname: The Boro (Or just Boro)
Major honours: The League cup 2003-2004 season
17/18 finishing position: 5th
Transfermarkt squad value: 79.34m
Manager: Tony Pulis became manager of us in late December 2017, replacing the sacked Garry Monk after a pretty lacklustre few months of the campaign (despite where our league position was). Pulis is known in England for being the man that is never relegated when in charge of someone in the top flight. We are all aware of Tony Pulis' style of football. You start by having a strong and massive defence and maximise your use of set pieces to gain an advantage. Pulis is a lover of all set piece plays, whether that is crossing the ball in from a corner or free kick, or launching a ball into the box from a throw in, they're all in his arsenal of weapons. 'Pulisball' as it is pretty much known. Pulis has achieved promotion from the championship once before with Stoke, and I hope he achieves it again with us this season
Best player(s)/ rising star: I mean, where else do I begin. Adama Traore. Arguably the best player in the championship on his day and is one of the most frightening dribblers in English football, maybe even world football. The winger is known for his speed and dribbling ability although is usually criticised for his lack of end product. Before last season I would've agreed, however 5 goals and 10 assists, with all but 2 assists coming before Pulis' arrival show the progression of the Spanish winger.
As for other members of the squad, Ben Gibson, the prodigal son. Boro through and through he's progressed into a commanding centre half with the ability to play out from the back thanks to Karanka. He gained attention and emerged as one of the few given credit after our disappointing premier league campaign but was only the subject of one bid upon our relegation, from now manager Tony Pulis. It remains to be seen whether he'll be here come the first game of the season, but I hope he will be.
As for future stars, Dael Fry, already has played 2 championship campaigns for us and looks as assured as a veteran of the game. Another centre half produced by our academy and he is being played in cdm this pre-season by Pulis, to add to his versatility. Hopefully a standout season for him, especially if Gibson does end up leaving. Finally, yes, he does always look as confused as images of him show.
What happened last season?: Well, the first half of the season was tragic under Monk. We played really poor football at times and looked like we hadn't defended a day in our lives. There was also no consistency in the team, we'd win one game then lose the next. A key theme under both managers however, was our inability to beat those around us in the table. After Pulis' appointment the results picked up and it ended with us finishing 5th in the table. We ultimately lost in the playoff semi finals to Aston Villa but honestly, we didn't think we'd even be in the top half around Christmas.
Summer transfer business (so far): Just the three deals to talk about so far. We've acquired Paddy McNair from Sunderland who looks like a decent player. He's been utilised in right back and midfield during pre-season so it looks like they'll be his positions for the season. I imagine he'll play alongside Clayts and Howson in a midfield three.
Aden Flint was signed from Bristol City and I think I'm in the minority when I say I don't like how much we paid for him. Obviously the man is a Pulis player but I'm a bit unsure about his defensive ability. That being said he's looked strong during pre-season and I'm sure Pulis will get the best out of him. Fabio departed our club for Nantes so we'll need more full back cover.
As for the rest of the window, I expect Gibson to leave but will be delighted if he doesn't. One of our strikers will also leave and Braithwaite should follow after his decent World Cup performances. We'll probably bring in a striker and a winger and hopefully hold onto Adama. That'd be a successful window in my eyes.
Predicted starting XI: My best guess The only other guess I could make is that Gibson might leave and then Ayala would start, but he's injured at this point in time. Britt might play over Gestede too if Pulis is feeling fancy.
Best case scenario: It has to be top of the pile right? It's not out of the question to imagine us up there and if everything clicks then we've got a chance. A defence that scores more than some teams' strikers, Adama channelling his inner Messi and finding consistency, Rudy/Britt/Bamford scoring for fun. It could be carnage.
Worst case scenario: I can't see us finishing outside the playoffs, if we did then that would be gut-wrenching. But if we did then that would most certainly be the worst. Realistically, it'd be losing in the playoffs... again, and if it were in the final again then god help me. Although saying this, now losing Bamford and maybe Traore will be a worst case scenario in itself, definitely if they're not replaced.
Prediction: Have to be confident, although it always kills me. 1st or 2nd. Tony Pulis and his nice white trainers carry us to the promise land. That being said, we never do it the easy way.
Best Match of Last Season Sorry Leeds fans, but it had to be. "Hattrick Bamford" as our Twitter account tweeted, 3-0 against Leeds with Adama running the show. Leeds clearly found some positive from the game as they're set to sign him off us. This was the sign of what we should've done more last season. Showed what Paddy could've been too if given an even more extended period in Striker by himself. Oh well.
What will happen to your closest rivals?: Who even are our closest rivals in this league? We're in geographical purgatory. Can't say Sunderland anymore so what? Leeds? Bielsa either turns them into the well oiled machine they hope for or he succumbs to the old Leeds ways and is sacked by December. As for the Mackems, probably promoted from League 1.
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