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GM football fans. It’s Friday, August. 22 - The Serie A and Bundesliga seasons' start this weekend, chaos erupts in Buenos Aires as a match is abandoned, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Premier League MD2: West Ham vs. Chelsea, Friday 22, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. West Ham have collected just nine points from as many home games under manager Graham Potter. Meanwhile, Chelsea’s record against West Ham is good, having only beaten Tottenham (37) more times in the Premier League than they have against the Hammers (32). Manchester City vs. Tottenham, Saturday 23, 12:30 BST / 07:30 ET. Tottenham have won two of their last four league games at the Etihad. However, since the start of April, City have picked up more points (26) than any other Premier League side and remain unbeaten across that time. Arsenal vs. Leeds, Saturday 23, 17:30 BST / 12:30 ET. Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 42 Premier League home games against promoted sides and will match the competition record by avoiding defeat here. See every Premier League Matchday 2 fixture here.
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
Serie A & Bundesliga Seasons Start
The Italian Serie A and German Bundesliga 2025-26 campaigns kick off this weekend. See all Serie A fixtures here and Bundesliga fixtures here.
Serie A, which was one of Europe’s most dramatic leagues last season, went down to the final day when Napoli pipped Inter Milan to the title. Despite this, Inter are 35.9% favourites for the crown this year, according to Opta’s prediction model. Holders Napoli are given just a 13.7% chance, even with three new additions, including Kevin De Bruyne. Atalanta, undergoing major changes after Gian Piero Gasperini’s departure following nine years in charge, are seen as contenders with a 12.8% chance.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich are overwhelming favourites with a 52.9% chance of winning the league, having lifted 12 of the past 13 titles. Bayer Leverkusen are given a 16.9% chance of regaining the crown and are projected as the most likely runners-up at 22.2%. Borussia Dortmund (15.8%) and Eintracht Frankfurt (4.4%) are considered to have an outside chance.
Match Postponed After Chaos
The second leg of the Copa Sudamericana last-16 tie between Argentina’s Independiente and Chile’s Universidad de Chile in Buenos Aires was abandoned in the 48th minute after rival fans clashed in the stands. Following the incidents, Conmebol has disqualified both clubs, and they have been banned from international competitions for two years.
Violence erupted at half-time as objects, including a stun grenade, pieces of toilets, sinks, and seats, were thrown from the away section onto the bottom tier, which housed home supporters. In chaotic scenes, home supporters beat and stripped some visiting fans of their clothes after storming the away end. Universidad de Chile say that 97 Chileans have been arrested, although local media have reported that the figure is more than 300. TyC Sports reports that none of the 650 local police officers or the venue’s security intervened in the incidents.
Chile’s President Gabriel Boric criticised Conmebol for its “evident irresponsibility.” Independiente’s president said his club’s fans “had nothing to do with the trouble” and said it was solely the fault of “crazy” Universidad de Chile supporters.
Ligue 1’s Historically Low TV Rights
Ligue 1 clubs will receive a historically low €80.6m in shared TV revenue this season as they await income from the league’s new direct-to-consumer broadcast channel. For 2025-26, the French champions will earn less in domestic TV rights than Montpellier did last season when they finished bottom of the league.
To combat low media rights deals, Ligue 1 announced Europe’s first direct-to-consumer football broadcast channel. The league’s executives say the channel had a successful opening day of the season with “more than 600,000 subscribers” for around €14.99 per month. However, they didn’t specify whether these were subscriptions with or without commitment, a clarification that will be important for the clubs' finances at the end of the financial year.
For comparison, in the Premier League’s previous broadcast deal (2019–2025), each club received a baseline of £86.9m (€100.4m) annually from the equal-share portion of domestic and international rights.
PRESENTED BY FUBO TV
The weekend’s Premier League action is on Fubo
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The new football season is here — and we’ve teamed up with Fubo to bring you the best offer so you can catch every goal, all season long.
Whether you’re based in the United States or Canada, you can catch this weekend’s Premier League fixtures from Manchester City vs. Tottenham, Arsenal vs. Leeds, and Newcastle vs. Liverpool. Stream every game live on your TV, phone, tablet, or computer, and choose the plan that fits your life — monthly, quarterly, or annual.
🇺🇸 U.S. Readers: For a limited time, $30 OFF your first month of Fubo Pro + 5-day FREE trial! Click here.
🇨🇦 Canadian Readers: 45% OFF — all Premier League & Serie A in 4K for just $14.99/mo. Click here.
POLL
Do you prefer an early or late kick-off?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Chelsea have less than two weeks to prove to Uefa that they have balanced their books enough to be permitted to add summer signings to Enzo Maresca’s Champions League squad for this season (More) | Liverpool’s Jeremie Frimpong will be out until the end of the September international break after suffering a hamstring injury (More)
> Barcelona will travel to Levante on Saturday (Aug 23) as they lead the La Liga table on goal difference; meanwhile, Real Madrid will face Oviedo on Sunday (Fixtures); dive deeper into a La Liga weekend preview (More)
> Wrexham are yet to win a Championship game but will play 23rd-place Sheffield Wednesday in their third match of the season (More)
Americas
> NWSL: The Orlando Pride acquired Lizbeth Ovalle from Mexico’s Tigres UANL for a record women’s transfer fee of $1.3m (More) | Bay FC has officially sold more tickets than the NWSL attendance record for a single game, with over 35,000 tickets sold (More) | See upcoming fixtures (More)
> MLS teams dominate in the Leagues Cup quarter-finals as LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Orlando City, and Inter Miami all advance over their Liga MX opponents (More) | Just one point separates Cincinnati (vs. NY City) and Philadelphia (vs. Chicago) in the MLS Eastern Conference (See Fixtures)
> Liga MX: League leaders Pachuca travel to Leon this weekend, and Monterrey, who are level on points with Pachuca after five matches, host 12th place Necaxa (Fixtures)
> The semi-finals of the 2025 USL Cup have been drawn, with Rhode Island FC set to host Sacramento Republic FC and Hartford Athletic set to welcome Greenville Triumph SC on Wednesday (Sept 10) (More); see USL Championship weekend fixtures (More)
Rest of the World
> Western United have lodged an appeal against the decision to strip the club of their A-League licence (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Should goalkeepers be allowed to keep penalty taker notes on their water bottle (or similar)?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 📝 Yes (76%)
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (22%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
📝 J.P: “Goalkeepers are already disadvantaged in penalties, it’s just smart to study the data and have it to hand. Data plays a huge part in many other aspects of football. Why should this be any different?”
🙅♂️ A.W: “Football has always been a player's game. No timeouts, players need to make decisions on the fly. GKs should be the same in PKs. Study before the match. That should be part of the preparation of a top professional. No cheat sheets. The hard work is done at training. Once the match is on, there should be no outside influences.”
✍️ D.W: “Does it really matter! The penalty takers know that the goalkeepers are studying their actions, therefore the penalty takers just need to mix it up a bit. They are professional footballers, so it should not be a problem.”
EXTRA TIME
Every transfer in Europe’s top five leagues. (live tracker)
Has football become more susceptible to match-fixing?
Palmer’s trademark challenged by French vineyard Chateau Palmer.
The making of the original Football Manager.
Everything you need for Gameweek 2 of FPL.
… and play along with us in R1’s FPL mini-league. (or use this code: k016q6)
Roy Keane reveals his old Man Utd contract. (see an extract of the contract here)
Every Serie A kit for the new season.
How do Premier League sides perform at a new stadium?
GAME FACE ON
Question: What club did Jose Mourinho first manage professionally, spending just three months at the club?
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Premier League
West Ham vs. Chelsea (20:00)
La Liga
Real Betis vs. Alaves (20:30)
Ligue 1
PSG vs. Angers SCO (19:45)
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich vs. RB Leipzig (19:30)
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Benfica.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
Nine times out of 10, when a move comes about, it's normally a club forcing a player, and nobody's bothered.
