GM football fans. It’s Friday, Dec. 19 - Saudi Arabia is scaling back its stadium plans for the 2034 World Cup, Pep Guardiola’s successor is being planned in case he leaves City at the end of the season, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Premier League MD17: Tottenham vs. Liverpool, Sat 20, 17:30 GMT / 12:30 ET. Tottenham have recorded just two wins in their last 25 Premier League meetings with Liverpool. Plus, in the two league fixtures between the sides last season, Liverpool scored 11 goals, winning 6–3 and 5–1. Everton vs. Arsenal, Sat 20, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Arsenal will guarantee they’re top of the table at Christmas if they win this fixture—it will be the third time in four years. While Everton have lost every match against teams competing in this season’s Champions League, they have four wins in their last six league games. Aston Villa vs. Manchester United, Sun 21, 16:30 GMT / 11:30 ET. Villa have won their last nine home games in all competitions, and come up against a Man United side without Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, and Noussair Mazraoui due to Afcon. However, Ruben Amorim’s side have won their last two away league matches. See every Premier League Matchday 17 fixture here.
Results…
UEFA Conference League: Crystal Palace 2-2 KuPS (All Results)
Italian Super Cup semi-final: Napoli 2-0 AC Milan (Match Report)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Pep’s Successor
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is “high” among the potential candidates to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, should he leave the club next summer, reliable sources (paywall) confirm. While Guardiola signed a contract extension in 2024, taking him to June 2027, sources have told The Athletic that there is a growing anticipation of this being his last season at the club.
Maresca, who has won the Conference League and the Club World Cup with Chelsea, previously managed City’s Under-21s for the 2020-21 season and served as Guardiola’s assistant the season after. The Italian coach has also recently switched representation to super-agent Jorge Mendes, which is often viewed as a strategic move by a manager preparing for a career move.
City’s interest does not indicate an imminent change, with Guardiola publicly stating he still has “unfinished business” and no decision expected until later in the season. Any move for Maresca would also raise questions at Chelsea, where he is under contract until 2029.
Stadium Scale Back
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is reportedly scaling back plans on the 11 new stadiums it proposed to build for the 2034 World Cup. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) has asked several architecture firms to resubmit designs after costs were deemed too high, despite contractors being scheduled to begin work next year. See the proposed stadiums here.
Reports say, though it’s not yet confirmed, that Saudi Arabia may reduce the number of stadiums to be used at the World Cup from the 15 included in its original bid. While the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was staged across just eight stadiums, the expansion to 48 teams means the 2026 World Cup in the US, Mexico, and Canada will use 16 venues–see them here.
One of the most ambitious designs is the Neom Stadium, planned as part of the futuristic The Line project. The stadium is proposed to sit 350 metres above the ground, which will only be accessible with high-speed lifts and driverless vehicles.
Finalissima Fixture Confirmed
European Championship winners Spain will face Copa America champions Argentina in the Finalissima game in Qatar on March 27 next year. The one-off fixture, which sees the European champions take on the South American champions, could pit Lamine Yamal against Lionel Messi for the first time.
The Finalissima fixture was originally held twice in 1985 and 1993 before being discontinued. It was relaunched in 2022 as a show of unity between Uefa and Conmebol, the regions’ governing bodies, partly in opposition to Fifa’s proposal to hold the World Cup every two years instead of four. In 2022, Copa America 2021 winners Argentina defeated Euro 2020 winners Italy 3-0 for their second title. Dive deeper into the history of the Finalissima here.
The match will be played over 90 minutes only, with no extra time. If the score is level at full-time, the winner will be decided by a penalty shootout.
POLL
Do you think Manchester City can successfully replace Pep Guardiola if he leaves at the end of the season?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Kylian Mbappe has the opportunity to beat Cristiano Ronaldo's record of most goals for Real Madrid in a calendar year when they face Sevilla on Saturday (Dec 20) (More) | La Liga leaders Barcelona play third-place Villarreal, who are on a six-game winning streak in the league (More)
> The Uefa Women’s Champions League knock-out draw has been completed; see the draw results (More)
> Inter Milan face Bologna in the Italian Super Cup semi-final on Friday (Dec 20); the winner will face Napoli (More)
> The Welsh derby, Swansea vs. Wrexham, takes place in the Championship on Friday (Dec 19) in what will be Snoop Dogg and Luka Modric against Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac (More); see the Championship standings (Table)
Americas
> Brazilian club Botafogo fired the son of Brazil’s national team coach Carlo Ancelotti, just five months after he had signed as its manager (More)
> Inter Miami are close to signing 2025 MLS goalkeeper of the year and Canada international Dayne St Clair (More)
> NSL’s AFC Toronto has retained nine players, including 17-year-old breakout star Kaylee Hunter, who led her team to World 7s glory (More)
> Ecuador international Mario Pineida has died at the age of 33 after being shot in Guayaquil (More)
Rest of the World
> AFCON kicks off on Sunday (Dec 21) with hosts Morocco vs. Comoros in the opening fixtures; see all fixtures (More); dive deeper into the tournament favourites (More)
> Two-thirds of women's national team players earn less than $20,000 annually, according to a new FIFPro survey (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Should commentators stop giving score updates from other matches during live broadcasts?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (28%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (70%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 T.A: “It's easy enough to find the scores from other matches if you really want them. It spoils it for those who want to watch matches or highlights later.”
🙅♂️ P.J: “I'm a play-by-play broadcaster (albeit at a much, much...much lower level than we're talking about here). Broadcasting is a very difficult skill, and I love being able to update viewers on ‘out of town scores’. It gives me a break from having to analyse in real time to develop the game's story. I can read the scores while I take a second to gather other thoughts. Plus, especially towards the end of the season, having scores from other matches can provide context that adds drama to the story developing in their game. We hear it every season, Team A needs Team B to draw or lose to take over a position on the table that could be the difference between promotion and relegation. And not being able to give the relevant score updates makes that story nearly impossible to tell.”
🙅♂️ J.R.K: “As somebody who is blind and relies on audio, any information that I can get from the commentators is very valuable.”
EXTRA TIME
Why Premier League shirts are so expensive.
Is Arsenal’s mini-wobble anything to worry about?
The context behind Juventus’ rejected takeover bid.
Is multi-club ownership good news for women’s football?
Robin van Persie addresses angry fans after elimination.
How prices for the cheapest World Cup tickets have rocketed. (analysis)
GAME FACE ON
Question: How many of the five African players who have over 300 Premier League appearances can you name?
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.
He's under contract. He's 20 years, what's wrong with being patient and learning his trade? Even if he doesn't get his chance, we've all had to go through that.
Answer
Kolo Toure (353). Mohamed Salah (315). Alex Iwobi (307). Jordan Ayew (305). Wilfred Zaha (305).
