GM football fans. It’s Monday, Dec. 8 - Europe’s closest title races, the difficulty of each World Cup group, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Premier League MD15 (Dec 8): Wolves vs. Manchester United, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Wolves have picked up just two points from their opening 14 fixtures, making this the joint-worst start to a Premier League season in history. However, they did complete the league double over United last season, matching the number of victories they had managed in their previous 14 meetings with the Red Devils. Ruben Amorim’s side, though, are unbeaten in their last four league matches away from home (W2 D2). See the Premier League table here.
Results…
Premier League: Villa 2-1 Arsenal | Bournemouth 0-0 Chelsea | Everton 3-0 Forest | Man City 3-0 Sunderland | Newcastle 2-1 Burnley | Spurs 2-0 Brentford | Leeds 3-3 Liverpool | Brighton 1-1 West Ham | Fulham 1-2 Palace
La Liga: Betis 3-5 Barcelona | Athletic Club 1-0 Atletico | Real Madrid 0-2 Celta Vigo (Table)
Bundesliga: Stuttgart 0-5 Bayern Munich | Augsburg 2-0 Leverkusen | Dortmund 2-0 Hoffenheim (Table)
Serie A: Inter 4-0 Como | Cagliari 1-0 Roma | Lazio 1-1 Bologna | Napoli 2-1 Juventus (Table)
Liga 1: PSG 5-0 Rennes | Nantes 1-2 Lens (Table)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Europe’s Close Title Races
Arsenal lead the Premier League by just two points over Manchester City, with Aston Villa only trailing by three points. The table is equally congested below, with just three points separating 12th-placed Manchester United and fifth-placed Chelsea—meaning a win for United on Monday (Dec 8) would draw them level on points.
In Italy, Napoli lead the Serie A title race by just one point ahead of Inter after Rasmus Hojlund scored two in their 2-1 victory over Juventus. AC Milan, who are on 28 points and play Torino on Monday, can go level on points with Napoli with a win. Roma (27) and Bologna (25) both dropped points this weekend, but are still within reach of the title.
In France, Lens have moved to the top of Ligue 1 for the first time in 21 years after a 2-1 win at Angers. The reigning French champions Paris Saint-Germain are now second on 34 points, one behind Lens, while Marseille and Lille both sit on 29 points. Notably, no PSG player features in the top six scorers this season, with their highest scorers currently part of a large group tied for 8th place.
In Scotland, Hearts extended their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership to three points after beating second-place Celtic 2-1 away from home—read the match report here. Celtic have a game in hand. It was Wilfried Nancy’s first game in charge of Celtic, and he set up with a 3-4-3 formation similar to his Columbus Crew days.
World Cup Group Difficulty
The full schedule for the 2026 World Cup group stage, including fixtures and kick-off times, has been confirmed. On June 11, Mexico will host South Africa in the opening game of the tournament at the renovated Estadio Azteca. See the full list of fixtures here.
Group J – comprising Argentina, Algeria, Austria, and Jordan – is statistically the strongest of the 12 pools, according to Opta’s power rankings. While the model ranks J as the hardest group, Opta accepts that fans will view Group I as the hardest, featuring 2022 runners-up France, as well as Norway and Senegal. The reason Group I comes in below Group J in average team rating is that the fourth team in the pool will be the winner of the second intercontinental play-off. Elsewhere, Spain have the fourth-toughest group, and England the fifth.
Co-hosts Canada are in the group with the lowest average Opta rating, featuring Qatar, Switzerland, and either Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, or Bosnia and Herzegovina. The USA, which features in the eighth-toughest group, is statistically the weakest of the confirmed teams in Group D, behind Paraguay and Australia. Meanwhile, Mexico are part of Group A, which contains no teams from the world’s top 20, making it one of the most wide-open groups.
Salah’s Fallout Deepens
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah says he has been “thrown under the bus” by the club, and that his relationship with manager Arne Slot has broken down. Speaking after Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds, Salah said he was in disbelief at being left on the bench for the third match running. Liverpool now sit ninth after 15 league games.
"It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame,” said Salah. "I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden, we don't have any relationship. I don't know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn't want me in the club." Read the full interview here.
Salah, who is set to join Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations on 15 December, said he is unsure about his Liverpool future despite signing a new two-year contract in April. He has scored five goals in 19 appearances this season.
POLL
Are Arsenal still clear favourites to win the Premier League after their loss to Aston Villa?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Harry Kane scored a hat-trick after coming on as a second-half substitute to guide Bayern Munich to a 5-0 victory at Stuttgart; he has scored 58 goals so far in 2025, exceeding a personal record of 56 goals in 2017 (More)
> Everton Women have ended Chelsea’s 34-game unbeaten run in the WSL; see a full WSL Matchday round-up (More); see every WSL result (More)
> Championship side Southampton have appointed their under-21 coach Tonda Eckert as manager with a contract through to 2027 (More); see the Championship table (More)
Americas
> Inter Miami have won the club’s first MLS Cup, beating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-1 on Saturday; it was Lionel Messi’s 44th senior trophy, and he was named MLS Cup MVP (More); watch Messi lift the trophy (More) and match highlights (Watch)
> Brazil become the first-ever Futsal Women’s World Cup winners, beating Portugal 3-0 in the final (More)
> Toluca and Tigres will face off for the Liga MX Apertura 2025 championship in a final on Thursday (Dec 11) (More) | Sergio Ramos leaves Mexican club Monterrey and has become a free agent (More)
> FIFA have apologised to Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni after he was required to wear gloves to touch the World Cup trophy during Friday’s draw (More)
Rest of the World
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Do you think the expanded 48-team World Cup is a good idea?
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 👏 Yes (41%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (56%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Editor’s Note: Thank you for all the comments on Friday—it took the team a while to sift through them all. We really appreciate every single comment, and we’re working on ways to reward you all for your support.
Your punditry takes:
👏 M.A: “There are exponentially more federations in existence now than when the first World Cup kicked off. More representation means more interest, which ultimately is better for the game as a whole. Now, expansion beyond 48? I'm not sure where the line is drawn.”
🙅♂️ T.H: “They can only water down a 'product' so much. There are too many weak squads that are just cannon fodder. It's not exciting or fun to watch minnows get hammered, especially when we all know that it's simply more games to ultimately increase Fifa profits. It does nothing to expand or strengthen the sport. Sadly, it's not out of character for Fifa.”
🙅♂️ E.A: “The logistics and cost of putting on a tournament of this size are way too high. This means that only affluent countries now control the destination, or multi-country combinations can win the bid. The other part is that 48 means an elongated tournament. Players are already exhausted, and we are barely a third of the way through the Premier League season. Anyone who has played or coached can see just how completely drawn the players are from travel and games. Money has taken the game to a new low level.”
✍️ D.W: “Let’s give this tournament a chance and see how it plays out. Should there be games being won by huge scores, due to the gulf between Fifa rankings, then no. However, if the group sections are seen to be competitive, then yes.”
EXTRA TIME
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Every angle of Cherki’s incredible rabona assist.
Has a player ever been shown a second yellow as a substitute?
Adidas’ 2026 MLS ball leaked.
Haaland vlogs Norway’s World Cup qualification.
The most valuable footballers in the world–updated.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Which is the only African nation to have reached the semi-finals of the men’s Fifa World Cup?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
The club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it’s very clear that someone wanted me to get all the blame.
Answer
Morocco in 2022.
