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GM football fans. It’s Monday, Feb. 2 - It’s transfer deadline day, the German football federation has ruled out a World Cup boycott, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
Premier League MD23: Sunderland vs. Burnley, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. Sunderland have lost just one of their last 12 home league games against Burnley, and the home side also have nine more points this season than they accumulated throughout the entirety of their previous top-flight campaign in 2016-17. Burnley, meanwhile, are 10 points from safety and winless in their last 14 Premier League games. See the Premier League table here.
Results…
Premier League: Spurs 2-2 Man City | Villa 0-1 Brentford | Man Utd 3-2 Fulham | Forest 1-1 Palace | Brighton 1-1 Everton | Leeds 0-4 Arsenal | Wolves 0-2 Bournemouth | Chelsea 3-2 West Ham | Liverpool 4-1 Newcastle
La Liga: Elche 1-3 Barcelona | Real Madrid 2-1 Rayo Vallecano (Table)
Bundesliga: Hamburger SV 2-2 Bayern Munich | Dortmund 3-2 Heidenheim (Table)
Serie A: Napoli 2-1 Fiorentina | Como 0-0 Atalanta | Cremonese 0-2 Inter | Parma 1-4 Juventus (Table)
Ligue 1: Strasbourg 1-2 PSG | Lens 1-0 Le Havre (Table)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Transfer Deadline Day
The winter transfer window will close on Monday (2 Feb) across most major European leagues–see the times each league will close its window here. See every transfer across Europe’s top five leagues with a live tracker here.
At the time of writing, Manchester City have been the biggest spender. They triggered Antoine Semenyo’s £65m release clause from Bournemouth early on – the most expensive transfer of the window so far – and also bought Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace for a reported £20m.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Serie A has emerged as a major buyer, rather than just an exporter of talent. Flamengo brought Lucas Paqueta from West Ham in a landmark £35.8m deal, and Cruzeiro signed Gerson from Zenit for £23.4m. Brazil’s increased activity is a result of new ‘SAF’ laws that allow Brazilian clubs to use foreign investment to outbid European rivals and keep stars at home—read more on this development here.
On the final day, Crystal Palace are expected to have the second-most expensive signing in Jorgen Strand Larsen, as Wolves have accepted a reduced offer worth £48m for the striker. Liverpool are seeking to finalise a deal for Lutsharel Geertruida, which requires Sunderland to terminate his current loan from RB Leipzig. Additionally, Wolves are working to complete a loan for Angel Gomes from Marseille, while Arsenal are expected to submit an improved offer for Blackburn’s 17-year-old striker Igor Tyjon.
World Cup Boycott Ruled Out
The German football federation (DFB) has ruled out a boycott of the World Cup despite calls within to send a message to U.S. President Donald Trump. “We believe in the unifying power of sport and the global impact that a Fifa World Cup can have,” the federation said in a statement. “Our goal is to strengthen this positive force — not to prevent it.”
The federation's executive committee met to discuss the option of boycotting this summer’s tournament. The discussions came following a proposal last week by the DFB’s vice-president Oke Gottlich, who referenced political matters as a reason to “seriously consider” a boycott. In what appears to be a public rebuke to Gottlich, however, the DFB said “debates on sports policy should be conducted internally and not in public”.
The DFB said a boycott “is not currently under consideration. The DFB is in contact with representatives from politics, security, business, and sports in preparation for the tournament”.
Championship Lead Wiped
Coventry City’s lead at the top of the Championship has been wiped out as their poor away form continued with a 2-1 loss at QPR—see the Championship table here. Earlier in the season, Frank Lampard's side held a 10-point cushion—the largest lead any team had ever held at that stage of a season since the division was rebranded as the Championship in 2004.
Coventry, which started the season unbeaten in their first 11 games, has gone winless in their last seven away matches and has won just twice in their last eight league games overall. Coventry are now level on points with Middlesbrough at the top of the table (58 points each), holding onto first place only by their superior +28 goal difference. Meanwhile, Hull City, who have won four games in a row, are five points behind the leaders with a game in hand.
Statistically speaking, Coventry’s drop-off has been huge. Prior to December, Coventry were scoring at a historic rate of 2.77 goals per game, but that has plummeted to just 1.09 per game over the last two months. They also kept clean sheets in over half of their first nine games, but have only managed two clean sheets in their last ten matches.
POLL
Should a manager be booked for leaving the technical area to celebrate a goal?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Arsenal Women won the inaugural Champions Cup trophy in a 3-2 win against Corinthians Feminino (More)
> Real Madrid remain just one point off leaders Barcelona in La Liga after Kylian Mbappe’s stoppage time penalty saved a 2-1 win against Rayo Vallecano (Table); dive deeper into why the La Liga title race is back on (More)
> Bayern Munich have dropped points in consecutive games in the Bundesliga after a 2-2 draw with Hamburg SV (More); Harry Kane scored his 36th goal of the season (More)
> Chelsea Women lost 5-1 to first-place Manchester City, leaving them in third and far off their seventh-consecutive Women’s Super League title (More)
Americas
> Seats were set fire to by a group of Universidad de Chile fans as they protested against the club's management over ticket prices (More)
> Inter Miami picked up their first victory of the 2026 preseason, coming behind to pick up a 2-1 win over Colombia’s Atletico Nacional (More)
> Former Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin’s spell with Club America in Mexico’s top-flight has ended abruptly after a racist incident involving his children (More)
> Guadalajara remain top of the Liga MX Clausura table after going flawless in their opening four fixtures; see all results (More)
Rest of the World
> South Korea’s participation in the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup is in jeopardy as players threaten a boycott over "discriminatory conditions" and systemic neglect by their national federation (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Is it a bad look for the Champions League that six Premier League teams could qualify for the last 16?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 😬 Bad look (16%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👎 Nope (81%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
😬 J.M: “I think it shows how absurdly strong the Premier League has become (due to the ridiculous amount of money in the league) in comparison to other European leagues that 5 out of 6 English teams are in the top 8, even when many of them are struggling domestically!”
👎 N.M: “Nope, I don't at all see it as a bad look. It's mostly just a reflection of the overall strongest league (and the one with the most money). Some other teams, like Bayern, are likely to make deep runs and prove that there are still strong teams outside England, even if the overall leagues might be weaker.”
👎 M.M: “How can it be bad for the Champions League? What it shows is the strength of the Premier League against all the other European domestic leagues. The best rise to the top, and it appears right now that the best domestic league in Europe still resides in England.”
✍️ L.J: “It's more a bad look for La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1. Spain, Germany, and France all suffer from dominance by a handful of clubs. Serie A is far more competitive — just look at how many different champions there've been in recent seasons, but clearly the standard in Italy overall isn't even close to that of the Premier League.”
EXTRA TIME
Don’t miss Solanke’s scorpion kick against Man City. (US link)
Meet the most powerful woman in football.
Why Polish football is booming.
Snoop Dogg’s Premier League ambition for Swansea.
MLS cuts a quarter of Spanish-language broadcasters—here’s why.
Which leagues will get a bonus UCL spot?
The best Champions League tifos–from Bob Marley to The Beatles.
Harry Kane tops Goal’s Ballon d’Or rankings.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Declan Rice became the fifth-youngest player to reach 300 Premier League appearances. Can you name the other four?
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.
Imagine getting booked for celebrating… f*****g sad, you know what I mean?
Answer
Wayne Rooney. James Milner. Gareth Barry. Raheem Sterling. (Source)
