GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Oct. 16 - President Trump threatens to move World Cup matches again, Arsenal are labelled as the new Premier League favourites, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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UEFA Women’s Champions League (16 Oct): Atletico Madrid vs. Manchester United, 17:45 BST / 12:45 ET. United have not conceded more than one goal in any of their 11 competitive games this season, while Atletico lost 6-0 on Sunday to Liga F leaders Barcelona. Bayern Munich vs. Juventus, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. When these sides met last season, Bayern claimed a 2-0 away win and a 4-0 at home. Plus, Bayern have lost just one of nine games played competitively this season, winning seven games in this run. SL Benfica vs. Arsenal, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Arsenal ended their four-game winless run with a victory over Brighton in the WSL on Sunday. Meanwhile, Benfica haven’t lost a competitive home game since September 2024. See the Women’s Champions League standings here.

Results…

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to relocate World Cup matches scheduled in Boston, making it the third host city to face such a warning. Speaking from the Oval Office during a meeting with Argentina’s president, Trump said parts of Boston had been “taken over” by unrest, without offering further details.

Boston, set to stage seven World Cup matches, saw clashes between protesters and police last week that led to 13 arrests and felony charges. Trump was asked about the city's mayor, Michelle Wu, a Democrat whom he called "intelligent" but "radical left." In response, Wu implied the city is ready to face off with Trump over his claims, saying: "Much of it is locked down by contract so that no single person, even if they live in the White House currently, can undo it.”

Trump has no legal authority to directly take action, but he can apply pressure to Fifa to move host cities. “If I feel there’s unsafe conditions, I would call Gianni — the head of FIFA, who’s phenomenal — and I would say, ‘let’s move it to another location,’ and he would do that,” Trump said. “He wouldn’t love to do it, but he’d do it very easily.” Fifa has reportedly told Sky News that the US government does have the right to determine if cities are safe for the World Cup.

Europe’s top clubs are discussing whether to allow six substitutes, up from five, per match to reduce player fatigue. The proposal was raised at the European Clubs’ Association (ECA) general assembly in Rome, with Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Nottingham Forest among the Premier League sides in attendance.

The Premier League introduced five substitutes in May 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. While the league initially reverted back to three for the 2020-21 season, five substitutes was voted in permanently from the 2022-23 season. While six substitutes is not an official proposal, clubs privately discussed lobbying Ifab, football’s lawmaking body, for change.

Clubs also considered expanding squads from 25 to 28 players to help manage workloads after threats of player strikes. However, sources close to the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) doubt it would help, saying it would not reduce travel or mental fatigue for players in matchday squads.

Arsenal are now 44% favourites to win the Premier League, according to Opta’s prediction model. Mikel Arteta’s side, now a point above Liverpool after seven games, had a 24.3% chance at the start of the season. See the Premier League table here.

Liverpool, who were favourites to retain the title after Matchday 5, are now given a 31.3% chance to retain their title following back-to-back losses to Crystal Palace and Chelsea. Third favourites are Manchester City, given a 14.3% chance. Elsewhere, no other team is given more than a 3% success of winning the title, with only Liverpool’s conquerors, Chelsea (2.6%) and Palace (2.5%), the next likeliest. Newcastle United (1.3%), Tottenham (1.1%) and Bournemouth (1.1%) are the only other clubs given more than a 1% chance. 

At the other end, Burnley are the likeliest to go down with a 63% relegation chance, followed by Wolves (59.3%) and West Ham (42.7%).

> Premier League clubs are expected to take the knee ahead of kick-off for the next two rounds of fixtures as an anti-racism gesture (More) | Fabio Paratici returns to Spurs as joint sporting director after a 30-month ban (More)

> The Golden Boy 2025 nominees shortlist has been revealed, featuring 25 of the best players under 21-years-old across European football (Full List)

> Frenkie de Jong has extended his contract with Barcelona until 2029 (More)

> Former Rangers player Kevin Muscat is the front-runner to take over as manager of the Scottish Premiership club, while Danny Rohl is also in the mix (More)

> Christian Pulisic came off injured during the USMNT’s 2-1 win to end Australia’s unbeaten run in their international friendly (More) | Two-time World Cup champion forward Christen Press said she will retire at the end of the 2025 NWSL season (More)

> Lionel Messi had two assists in Argentina’s 6-0 rout of Puerto Rico in their international friendly (More)

> Four of the five most populated countries in the world failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup–China, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan–which make up 42.2% of the entire world’s population; see every team that has qualified (More)

> Son Heung-min has become South Korea’s most capped player, surpassing the record of 136 (More)

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Yesterday’s Poll: Following the international break, are you confident with your nation going into next year’s World Cup?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👍 Yes (63%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope (35%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (2%)

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Question: What’s the common club between the following pairs of players?

Scroll below for the answer.

UEFA Women’s Champions League

EFL League One

*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Real Sociedad. VfB Stuttgart. Stade Rennes.

Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.