Premier League Limits Silences

GM football fans. It’s Friday, Nov. 7 - English football will no longer hold minute silences for non-football-related events, the Champions League favourites have been revealed, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

Premier League MD11: Tottenham vs. Manchester United, Saturday 8, 12:30 GMT / 7:30 ET. Spurs are undefeated in their last seven meeting with United in all competitions, but they’ve lost more home league games than every other side in the Premier League (9) in 2025. Sunderland vs. Arsenal, Saturday 8, 17:30 GMT / 12:30 ET. Arsenal, who are on a 10-match winning streak in all competitions, are unbeaten in their last 15 league matches against Sunderland. Plus, the home side hasn’t won any of their last 23 top-flight games against sides starting the day in the top four. Manchester City vs. Liverpool, Sunday 9, 16:30 GMT / 11:30 ET. City lost both league meetings with Liverpool last season, as many defeats as they’d suffered in their previous 12 against them. A brace for Erling Haaland would make him the fastest to 100 goals in the league’s history (in 108 games), overtaking Alan Shearer (124 games). See every Premier League fixture here.

Results…

Europa League (Results)
Conference League (Results)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Minute Silence Protocol Change

English football’s governing bodies have agreed to no longer hold a minute’s silence for global disasters or events with no connection to the sport. The decision follows concerns that the gestures have become too frequent and are losing their impact. Under the new protocol, the FA will also stop lighting Wembley’s arch for non-football-related events.

The policy was established by the World Events Working Group (WEWG), a committee formed by the FA, Premier League, and EFL, to coordinate football’s response to world events. The WEWG does not guide player-led initiatives such as taking the knee as part of anti-racism campaigns. Clubs are also encouraged to choose when they wish to respond to local events unrelated to football.

Reports suggest that concerns were raised around the impact of minute silences when Premier League clubs held one to commemorate the victims of an earthquake in Morocco and the flooding disaster in Libya last month.

Champions League Projections

At the halfway point of the Uefa Champions League league phase, Arsenal remain as 23.5% favourites to win the competition, according to Opta’s prediction model. Mikel Arteta’s side are one of three clubs to take maximum points from their opening four matches in the league phase, and sit level on goal difference (+11) with Bayern Munich. See the Champions League table here.

Bayern are given a 14.3% chance of winning the competition, followed by Manchester City (12.9%) and Liverpool (11.7%). Last year’s champions, Paris Saint-Germain, are the only other side with above a 10% chance. Inter Milan, who are level on points with Bayern and Arsenal, are the eighth favourites with a 4.1% chance, behind Real Madrid (4.7%) and Barcelona (4.2%).

Notably, for the second time in four rounds of fixtures, five Premier League clubs have won, something no country has managed in a single game week before this season. What’s more, four of the six Premier League clubs are in the top eight for the automatic qualification, while all six sit in the top 12.

Four matchdays remain in the league phase, with the top eight teams qualifying automatically for the Round of 16. Clubs finishing ninth to 24th will enter a play-off, while the bottom 12 will be eliminated.

Guardiola’s 1000th Match

Pep Guardiola will take charge of his 1000th match in this Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool. The Spaniard will also be inducted into the League Managers’ Association’s 1,000 Club, becoming only the 39th post-war manager to receive the honour. See a list of the managers with the most games in charge here.

Guardiola has won 715 of his 999 matches, a 71% win rate, and has claimed 40 major trophies across Barcelona B, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City, averaging one trophy every 25 games during his 18-year career.

In the Premier League, Guardiola has 251 wins from 351 matches, making him the only manager with a win rate above 70% among those with more than 100 games. Sir Alex Ferguson, by comparison, won 65% of his 810 matches. Guardiola also became the fastest manager in English top-flight history to reach 250 wins, achieving the milestone in 349 games, ahead of Arsene Wenger, who did so in 423.

POLL

Should clubs hold minute silences for non-football related events?

Leave your initials in your response if you'd like to be featured in Monday's edition.

ON THE BALL

Europe

Breaking: UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy “unknowingly” broke rules with the appointment of David Kogan as the chair of the Independent Football Regulator (More)

> Serie A leaders Napoli are just one point ahead of Inter, AC Milan, and Roma; anything but a win against Bologna could see them go to fourth (More); see the Serie A table (More) | Genoa have named Daniele De Rossi as manager after sacking Patrick Vieira (More)

> England manager Thomas Tuchel has reportedly decided to recall Jude Bellingham to the squad for the World Cup qualifiers; full squad to be announced on Friday (More)

> Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has gone on trial in Athens, accused of instigating football violence and supporting a criminal organisation (More)

> Another win in the league for Bayern Munich would match the team’s 10-game winning start in 2015 under Pep Guardiola (More)

> WSL leaders Chelsea face Arsenal on Saturday (Nov 8); dive deeper into how Arsenal can break Chelsea’s unbeaten run (Analysis); see every WSL fixture (More)

Americas

> Independiente Rivadavia was crowned champion of the Copa Argentina (the equivalent to the FA Cup in England), its first title in history; watch their celebrations (More)

> Five Game 3 fixtures will take place this weekend in the MLS Cup, with Philadelphia, Vancouver, and LAFC having all already advanced to the Conference semi-finals (Fixtures); see the MLS Cup bracket (More)

> The quarter-final of the NWSL play-offs begins on Friday (Nov 7) with reigning NWSL Champion Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign (Fixtures); see the play-off bracket (More)

> USL Championship Conference play-off semi-finals kick off on Saturday (Nov 8) with North Carolina vs. Rhode Island, Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs. Detroit City, Tulsa vs. Phoenix Rising, and New Mexico vs. Orange County (Fixtures); see match previews (More)

Rest of the World

> Al Nassr, still undefeated in the Saudi Pro League this season, will face sixth-placed Neom on Saturday (Nov 8); see the SPL table (More)

> Former international midfielder Shao Jiayi has been appointed as China's new head coach, becoming the first Chinese national to hold the job since 2002 (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Can a player be the Greatest of all Time (GOAT) without winning the World Cup?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🐐 Yes (76%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope (22%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)

Your punditry takes:

🐐 J: “Winning the World Cup does not just depend on an individual's career-long performance. Place of birth, say in a small nation, almost certainly condemns many great players to be bystanders or limited participants in World Cups, e.g. George Best or, in this case, Ronaldo.”
🐐 T.H: “Club football represents a greater spectacle than international football, with much more commercial support. Corporate sponsorship, which funds the roster and transfers, follows market exposure. Ronaldo has won almost everything there is to win, and a strong case could be made that none of those teams could’ve won all those trophies without him. But Portugal is further from a trophy than any club Ronaldo plays for.”
🙅‍♂️ R.P: “The greatest players in history are able to lift their teams to glory no matter the circumstances. Take Maradona in the ‘86 World Cup. He separated himself from the rest when he single-handedly won the World Cup for his nation. While a player’s whole career should be considered, the special place at the top of the pack should be reserved for those able to pull off the unthinkable.”