GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Nov. 27 - A club owner has reportedly suggested a merger with their rival club, the WSL has apologised for an unprofessional draw, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
UEFA Europa League (Nov 27): Aston Villa vs. Young Boys, 17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET. Villa have won nine of their last 11 matches across all competitions, while Young Boys have been inconsistent in the league phase, winning and losing two of their opening four games. Roma vs. Midtjylland, 17:45 GMT / 12:45 ET. Midtjylland are the only side still with a 100% record this campaign, putting them top of the table midway through this season's league phase. Meanwhile, Roma have won four of their last five in all competitions, and sit two points clear at the summit of Italy’s top flight. Nottingham Forest vs. Malmo, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Forest sit 23rd in the 36-team league phase table and three points behind the top nine, while Malmo are still searching for their first win and find themselves down in 32nd place. See every Europa League fixture here and the league phase standings here.
Results…
TOP TALKING POINTS
Champions League Projections
Arsenal, the only side left in the Champions League with a 100% win record, have a 23% chance of winning the tournament, according to Opta’s latest prediction. This comes after Mikel Arteta’s side beat Bayern Munich 3-1 at the Emirates, with the German side now projected to have a 19% chance of winning the tournament.
Holders Paris Saint-Germain, who have overtaken Bayern in second place on goal difference (see standings), have been given an 11.2% chance of winning the tournament following their 5-3 win over Tottenham. Inter Milan (4th) and Real Madrid (5th), who are also on 12 points, are given just 4.1% and 6.2% chances of taking glory, respectively. Kylian Mbappe is now the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals, helped by his four goals in Real’s 4-3 victory over Olympiakos, including a seven-minute hat-trick.
Despite losing 2-0 at home to Leverkusen on Tuesday, Manchester City are given the fourth-best odds at 8.3%, while Chelsea are given a 6.0% chance. Liverpool, who sit 13th in the league phase table following a 4-1 loss to PSV, are projected to have a 5.7% chance. Barcelona make up the rest of the top 10 with a 4.5% chance, even though they’re currently 18th.
Rivals Merger Proposed
Sheffield United’s owners COH Sports, an American consortium, has reportedly made an inquiry about the sale of rivals Sheffield Wednesday. Reports suggest COH sent an email to Wednesday proposing a possible merger between the two clubs despite their rivalry dating back more than 130 years. The email was sent by an addresss associated with COH, which Wednesday immediately rejected, but there’s still a possibility of it being a hoax. At the time of writing, United have not denied inquiring about the sale or merger.
COH were among more than 80 parties to make initial calls to enquire about purchasing Wednesday over the past month. Potential suitors monitoring a sale that is likely to exceed £40m include former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, as well as the leading candidate, US-based billionaire John McEvoy. This comes despite the club’s financial issues and the automatic 12-point deduction in the Championship earlier this season.
On Sunday, United beat Wednesday 3-0 in the Steel City Derby. United are currently on 16 points and 21st in the league table, while Wednesday are on –4 points at the bottom in 24th. Dive deeper into the Steel City rivalry here.
WSL Draw Controversy
WSL Football has been asked to provide footage of Tuesday’s Women’s League Cup quarter-final and semi-final draw because of concerns over the process. The draw, which was conducted by a social media influencer, featured sexual references and anti-Tottenham comments. The WSL has apologised to Tottenham following the incident. Watch a clip of the draw here.
The influencer pulled a ball out of the bag before mistakenly putting it back in, only to pull it out again and say: "Am I allowed to do that? I've done it now, it's too late. Oh I picked up the same ball." Reports suggest that an adjudicator confirmed that the ball pulled out was the same number on both occasions, otherwise the draw would’ve been restarted. It’s unclear how the adjudicator confirmed this, since the bag from which the balls were drawn was opaque. At least one WSL club is understood to have requested access to the original footage.
The quarter-final matches will be played across the weekend of December 19-21, while the semifinals will be played on January 21-22. The quarter-final match-ups include: Liverpool vs. Chelsea, Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal, Manchester United vs. Tottenham, and West Ham vs. Manchester City.
POLL
Based on what you’ve seen so far, who do you think wins the Champions League — and why?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Crystal Palace will travel to Strasbourg in the Uefa Conference League; everything you need to know about Matchday 4 of the Conference League (More) and every fixture (More)
> The man who drove his car into a dense crowd of supporters at the Liverpool FC victory parade in May has pleaded guilty to all 31 charges (More)
> Wrexham beat Bristol City 2-0 in Matchday 17 of the Championship to go five games unbeaten; they currently sit 10th in the league (More)
> Arsenal midfielder Luis Munoz has become the youngest ever player to appear in the Uefa Youth League, aged 13 (More)
Americas
> The Columbus Crew's home stadium will have a new name beginning in 2026, changing from Lower.com Field to ScottsMiracle-Gro Field (More) | D.C. United declined striker Christian Benteke's contract option for 2026; he recorded 47 goals and 10 assists in 93 MLS matches from 2022-25 (More)
> The NWSL championship match between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit on Saturday averaged 1,184,000 viewers on CBS and Paramount+ (More) | The Portland Thorns have agreed to part ways with coach Rob Gale after an inconsistent season (More)
> Chapecoense earned promotion to Brazil’s top-flight Serie A, marking their return nine years after a tragic aeroplane crash that caused 71 casualties, mostly players and coaching staff (More) | Neymar could miss Santos' last three league games of the season because of a knee injury (More); see the Brazil Serie A standings (More)
Rest of the World
> Japan's Vissel Kobe sealed a 2-0 win over hosts Shanghai Shenhua to open a three-point gap atop the Asian Champions League Elite eastern league phase standings (More)
> A Malaysian journalist investigating a high-profile football document-forgery scandal was assaulted (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think it’s fair for FIFA to separate top-ranked teams so they don’t meet until later in the World Cup?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (66%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅♂️ Nope (32%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 M.A: “As someone who follows both football and tennis closely, I think this change strikes the right balance. It protects the strongest teams from meeting immediately, but it does not remove that possibility. The World Cup group stage can still produce upsets, and a top seed finishing second can suddenly face another heavyweight early on. Tennis is a straight knockout format, which is why late rounds become predictable (Sincaraz finals), even if top seeds still suffer occasional early exits (Alcaraz-Norrie, Paris R32). The new Fifa system increases the likelihood of big matches happening later, without guaranteeing it, and that balance preserves both fairness and the unpredictability that makes the World Cup special.”
👍 K.F: “It makes sense, especially since it would also mean that other countries have less of a chance of playing multiple high-ranked countries in the first rounds.”
🙅♂️ A.M.L: “Part of the magic of the World Cup is that anyone could play anyone at any point, whether it be the France vs. Argentina 4-3 spectacle or Costa Rica taking the Netherlands for a place in the semi-finals. Seeding the draw slightly ruins it.”
✍️ P.J: “From a competitive standpoint. Sure. It makes sense to seed the top 4 teams in opposing branches of the knock-out tree. But to seed the pots which are supposed to be random-ish feels like it takes away from the nature of a ‘random’ draw. It diminishes the drama of a ‘group of death’ and waters down the group stage a bit.”
EXTRA TIME
A history of the Champions League’s fastest hat-tricks.
… and the best facts behind the Premier League’s 400 hat-tricks.
Is the EPL really dominating European football?
Barcelona’s 26-27 home kit leaked.
Players who have argued with teammates on the pitch.
What's England’s easiest (and toughest) potential World Cup group?
Artificial pitch causes footballer to fail a drug test.
Arsenal rising star Dowman scores a brilliant goal.
Why Feyenoord’s 1970 European Cup win ended Celtic’s dominance.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Which four Dutchmen have made over 300 Premier League appearances?
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.
When you start to compare with Messi or Ronaldo, I think it is too much for them.
Answer
George Boateng (384), Dennis Bergkamp (315), Edwin van der Sar (313), and Virgil van Dijk (313).
