Houdini

Wasn't the "heavy meatal" style of football what Liverpool played when Jurgen Klopp was their manager? funny how Salah didn't say this last season when they were winning the Premier League with Arne Slot as the manager.

I feel really bad for Hearts, it could have been a refreshing change for another team outside of Rangers/Celtic to win the league but it's not to be.

They've lost 12 matches just like Leeds who are in 14th place! Very poor title defence. They gave up the gold lion sleeve badge on their shirt without a fight this season.

Friday 15th May Aston Villa 2-0 Liverpool (20:00) Sunday 17th May Manchester United 3-0 Nottingham Forest (12:30) Brentford 2-1 Crystal Palace Everton 1-0 Sunderland Leeds United 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-1 Fulham Newcastle United 1-1 West Ham (17:30) Monday 18th May Arsenal 4-0 Burnley (20:00) Tuesday 19th May AFC Bournemouth 1-2 Manchester City (19:30) Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur (20:15)

Yeah Liam Sota has been top of the head-to-head league for most of the season but we'll see how the next two gameweeks turn out. He's in a commanding position in the main league though!

Standings at the end of Gameweek 36: Main league 1. Liam Sota - 23 (Twenty Three) 2,159 pts 2. Houdini - New Dog. New Tricks 2,046 pts 3. Brett Buttler - A Cunha Matatta 1,984 pts 4. Dobbo - Cunha Believe It? 1,981 pts 5. Viper* - Pain In Diaz 1,978 pts 6. Sarah - MarshoFC 1,859 pts 7. Mack - Mackington United 1,840 pts 8. awardinary - Ha'Cunha Mateta 1,805 pts 9. Herbs - Herbilore 1,636 pts Head to head league 1. Liam Sota - 23 (Twenty Three) 72 pts (24 wins, 0 draws, 12 losses) 2. Houdini - New Dog. New Tricks 72 pts (24 wins, 0 draws, 12 losses) 3. Sarah - MarshoFC 63 pts (21 wins, 0 draws, 15 losses) 4. Dobbo - Cunha Believe It? 58 pts (19 wins, 1 draw, 16 losses) 5. Mack - Mackington United FC 54 pts (18 wins, 0 draws, 18 losses) 6. awardinary - Ha'Cunha Mateta 48 pts (16 wins, 0 draws, 20 losses) 7. AVERAGE 34 pts (11 wins 1 draw, 24 losses) 8. Herbs - Herbilore 30 pts (10 wins, 0 draws, 26 losses) Gameweek 36 results: New Dog. New Tricks 91-82 (Twenty Three), Cunha Believe It? 79-65 AVERAGE, Herbilore 73-51 Ha'Cunha Mateta, MarshoFC 92-80 Mackington United Gameweek 37 fixtures: (Twenty Three) Vs MarshoFC, Mackington United Vs Herbilore, Ha'Cunha Mateta Vs Cunha Believe It?, AVERAGE Vs New Dog. New Tricks

DR Congo - Could challenge Colombia for 2nd in Group K but I think they will ultimately finish 3rd, I also have a feeling that they will not score enough goals to be in contention for highest 3rd place teams. Iran - It's certainly going to be interesting from an atmosphere point of view how their fans will be in the stadium. All of their group stage matches are going to be in the territory of their number one Opps! In terms of what happens on the pitch I think they will most probably finish bottom of Group G. They could sneak a win against New Zealand but I think that might be as good as it gets for them. Tunisia - They could get 2nd place in group F, think it will be closely fought for that spot between them, Japan and Sweden. Getting 3 points in particular against a Sweden side that struggled to qualify and are managed by Graham Potter will be key to their hopes of progressing. Czech Republic - They could top Group A if they buck up their ideas as this is one of the most open groups but you never know with this team at a major tournament. Australia - I have a feeling that they will finish bottom of Group D. Paraguay - In the same group as aforementioned Australia, I think they'll finish above them and will also finish above the hosts USA. The match between them and Turkey could decide the winners of Group D. Canada - Even though they are in a favourable group I still think they might fall short of being in the top 2 and may have to rely on how other 3rd placed teams get on to make it to the next round. Ghana - They should have 3rd place on lock in Group L and should aim to rack up the goals in their match against Panama in particular to boost their goal difference to be one of the highest 3rd placed teams.

This Week's Results: 1st Viper* 22 pts 2nd Houdini 21 pts 3rd Dobbo 20 pts 4th King Rollo 18 pts 5th Flatcap 17 pts 6th Mack 16 pts 7th Steve201, Sarah 13 pts 9th Rooney 11 pts 10th LewisGT, Suedehead2 10 pts 12th DJHazey 9 pts Standings: 1st Rooney 471 pts 2nd Houdini 460 pts 3rd King Rollo 456 pts 4th Sarah 451 pts 5th Dobbo 414 pts 6th Steve201 411 pts 7th Suedehead2 398 pts 8th Flatcap 389 pts 9th LewisGT 372 pts 10th LiamSime 371 pts 11th Mack 369 pts 12th Viper* 364 pts 13th DJHazey 352 pts 14th awardinary 115 pts 15th Liam Sota 33 pts Well done to Viper* on winning this week. Thank you to everyone who took part this week.

Fixtures (All kick of times are 15:00 BST unless stated otherwise) Friday 15th May Aston Villa Vs Liverpool (20:00) Sunday 17th May Manchester United Vs Nottingham Forest (12:30) Brentford Vs Crystal Palace Everton Vs Sunderland Leeds United Vs Brighton & Hove Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers Vs Fulham Newcastle United Vs West Ham (17:30) Monday 18th May Arsenal Vs Burnley (20:00) Tuesday 19th May AFC Bournemouth Vs Manchester City (19:30) Chelsea Vs Tottenham Hotspur (20:15)

I think it is what is at stake that made the goal get cancelled, this decision could essentially decide who wins the league. If this was matchday 7 of the season for example that goal would have stood no doubt. The officials know that it would never be forgotten by Arsenal fans if it stood and in the case of West Ham the damage might already be done even if they were to have won this match. Whatever happens though it has been an entertaining title race this season and it's good that both teams didn't win every week, this is how a title race should be if you're not supporting any of the teams involved in it. The results have not been to the detriment of the league as a whole unlike other title races where the opponents keep losing every week to the title challengers and then you end up with two teams having 90+ points.

Saturday 9th May Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea (12:30) Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers Fulham 1-1 AFC Bournemouth Sunderland 0-1 Manchester United Manchester City 2-0 Brentford (17:30) Sunday 10th May Burnley 0-1 Aston Villa (14:00) Crystal Palace 1-1 Everton (14:00) Nottingham Forest 1-1 Newcastle United (14:00) West Ham United 0-2 Arsenal (16:30) Monday 11th May Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Leeds United (20:00) Wednesday 13th May Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace (20:00)

It's looking like it was a blessing in disguise Crystal Palace being demoted to this competition after winning last season's FA Cup. They will have a good chance of winning the final and if they do it will qualify them for next season's Europa League.

I fully expect Aston Villa to win this, especially with Unai Emery the Europa League specialist in charge. Don't know anything really about Freiburg but I would be very shocked if Villa don't win that match. They could potentially enable the team who finishes 6th in the Premier League to qualify for next season's Champions League also.

Carrying on from where I left off for the subsequent teams that have been mentioned: Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Qatar, Panama - Can't see these teams making it at all into the top 2 of their groups and most likely they will not be among the highest 3rd placed teams either. Jordan - They're in an open looking Group J but I think they'll fall short of making it into the top 2. Not so sure they'd be among the highest 3rd place teams either if they were to finish there in the group Scotland - They will finish 3rd as Brazil and Morocco will be too strong for them but they could be among the highest 3rd place teams Saudi Arabia - 3rd at best for them in their group South Africa - Will finish bottom of Group A Bosina and Herzegovina - Could make it out of Group B, this is one of the most open groups and it doesn't look like there is a stand out team here New Zealand - they have a good chance of making it out of Group G in 2nd place, likely to be between them and Egypt for 2nd place

Standings at the end of Gameweek 35: Main league 1. Liam Sota - 23 (Twenty Three) 2,077 pts 2. Houdini - New Dog. New Tricks 1,955 pts 3. Brett Buttler - A Cunha Matatta 1,911 pts 4. Dobbo - Cunha Believe It? 1,902 pts 5. Viper* - Pain In Diaz 1,899 pts 6. Sarah - MarshoFC 1,767 pts 7. Mack - Mackington United 1,760 pts 8. awardinary - Ha'Cunha Mateta 1,754 pts 9. Herbs - Herbilore 1,563 pts Head to head league 1. Liam Sota - 23 (Twenty Three) 72 pts (24 wins, 0 draws, 11 losses) 2. Houdini - New Dog. New Tricks 69 pts (23 wins, 0 draws, 12 losses) 3. Sarah - MarshoFC 60 pts (20 wins, 0 draws, 15 losses) 4. Dobbo - Cunha Believe It? 55 pts (18 wins, 1 draw, 16 losses) 5. Mack - Mackington United FC 54 pts (18 wins, 0 draws, 17 losses) 6. awardinary - Ha'Cunha Mateta 48 pts (16 wins, 0 draws, 19 losses) 7. AVERAGE 34 pts (11 wins 1 draw, 23 losses) 8. Herbs - Herbilore 27 pts (9 wins, 0 draws, 26 losses) Gameweek 35 results: AVERAGE 50-68 (Twenty Three), New Dog. New Tricks 58-54 Ha'Cunha Mateta, Cunha Believe It? 39-38 Mackington United, Herbilore 35-66 MarshoFC Gameweek 36 fixtures: New Dog. New Tricks Vs (Twenty Three), Cunha Believe It? Vs AVERAGE, Herbilore Vs Ha'Cunha Mateta, MarshoFC Vs Mackington United

I also think the outpouring of emotion at what is looking now like a likely Premier League title win will really take a lot out of Arsenal as a whole entity. If they secure it on the final day of the season then they'll have 6 days to try and change their mindset and their focus for the final. 22 years of frustration coming to an end will be near impossible to brush to one side in such a short space of time. I remember in 1999 & 2008 when Man Utd won the league on the final day of the season the celebrations were a little bit limited because we had the upcoming finals still to come and the wait to win the league prior to that wasn't long so it didn't feel so much like a heavy burden had been lifted. But for these Arsenal players you can't say the same thing so that would be another thing that would go against them for the final.

"Champions of Europe, you'll never sing that" ^ That's what people have been chanting about Arsenal for years so in order for that to remain intact they'd have to lose the final, which is why I'll be supporting whoever wins tonight's semi final. Not to mention the gloating from Arsenal fans that will happen if they were to win. There's no way that they'll win anyway, Bayern and PSG are levels above them and they would really have to have an off day to lose in a neutral stadium. Bayern are going for a treble and PSG are going for back to back European titles after not winning one for so long. So there's no way that either of them will slip up in the final. By the end of tonight we'll know who's going to lift the European Cup this season.

2006 repeated again in more ways than one it seems.

This Week's Results: 1st DJHazey 13 pts 2nd Steve201, King Rollo, Sarah 10 pts 5th Rooney, Viper* 9 pts 7th LiamSime, Flatcap, LewisGT, Dobbo, Mack, Suedehead2 8 pts 13th Houdini 6 pts Standings: 1st Rooney 460 pts 2nd Houdini 439 pts = 3rd King Rollo, Sarah 438 pts 5th Steve201 398 pts 6th Dobbo 394 pts 7th Suedehead2 388 pts 8th Flatcap 372 pts 9th LiamSime 371 pts 10th LewisGT 362 pts 11th Mack 353 pts 12th DJHazey 343 pts 13th Viper* 342 pts 14th awardinary 115 pts 15th Liam Sota 33 pts Well done to DJHazey on winning this week. Thank you to everyone who took part this week.

Arsenal will NEVER have a better chance of winning the Premier League than they do now!

Fixtures (All kick of times are 15:00 BST unless stated otherwise) Saturday 9th May Liverpool Vs Chelsea (12:30) Brighton & Hove Albion Vs Wolverhampton Wanderers Fulham Vs AFC Bournemouth Sunderland Vs Manchester United Manchester City Vs Brentford (17:30) Sunday 10th May Burnley Vs Aston Villa (14:00) Crystal Palace Vs Everton (14:00) Nottingham Forest Vs Newcastle United (14:00) West Ham United Vs Arsenal (16:30) Monday 11th May Tottenham Hotspur Vs Leeds United (20:00) Wednesday 13th May Manchester City Vs Crystal Palace (20:00)

Maybe it was too good to be true regarding Tottenham getting relegated, we'll have to wait and see I guess. It already looks like two of next season's spots will be filled by Coventry and Ipswich so there will probably be less chance of Tottenham going down next season if they stay up this time. West Ham potentially having the biggest stadium in the Championship though! 😮

Alpine: Gasly [Q,R] v Colapinto Aston Martin: Alonso [Q,R] v Stroll Audi: Bortoleto [Q] v Hulkenberg [R] Cadillac: Perez [Q,R] v Bottas Ferrari: Leclerc [Q,R] v Hamilton Haas: Ocon v Bearman [Q,R] McLaren: Norris [Q,R] v Piastri Mercedes: Antonelli v Russell [Q,R] Racing Bulls: Lawson [R] v Lindblad [Q] Red Bull: Verstappen [Q,R] v Hadjar Williams: Albon [Q,R] v Sainz Jr Pole Position: Lando Norris Winner: Lando Norris Fastest Lap: Charles Leclerc

Friday 1st May Leeds United 2-0 Burnley (20:00) Saturday 2nd May Brentford 1-1 West Ham United Newcastle United 1-2 Brighton & Hove Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-0 Sunderland Arsenal 2-0 Fulham (17:30) Sunday 3rd May AFC Bournemouth 1-1 Crystal Palace (14:00) Manchester United 1-1 Liverpool (15:30) Aston Villa 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur (19:00) Monday 4th May Chelsea 1-1 Nottingham Forest Everton 1-3 Manchester City (20:00)

Standings at the end of Gameweek 34: Main league 1. Liam Sota - 23 (Twenty Three) 2,009 pts 2. Houdini - New Dog. New Tricks 1,897 pts 3. Brett Buttler - A Cunha Matatta 1,872 pts 4. Dobbo - Cunha Believe It? 1,863 pts 5. Viper* - Pain In Diaz 1,839 pts 6. Mack - Mackington United 1,722 pts 7. Sarah - MarshoFC 1,701 pts 8. awardinary - Ha'Cunha Mateta 1,700 pts 9. Herbs - Herbilore 1,528 pts Head to head league 1. Liam Sota - 23 (Twenty Three) 69 pts (23 wins, 0 draws, 11 losses) 2. Houdini - New Dog. New Tricks 66 pts (22 wins, 0 draws, 12 losses) 3. Sarah - MarshoFC 57 pts (19 wins, 0 draws, 15 losses) 4. Mack - Mackington United FC 54 pts (18 wins, 0 draws, 16 losses) 5. Dobbo - Cunha Believe It? 52 pts (17 wins, 1 draw, 16 losses) 6. awardinary - Ha'Cunha Mateta 48 pts (16 wins, 0 draws, 18 losses) 7. AVERAGE 34 pts (11 wins 1 draw, 22 losses) 8. Herbs - Herbilore 27 pts (9 wins, 0 draws, 25 losses) Gameweek 34 results: (Twenty Three) 73-20 Ha'Cunha Mateta, AVERAGE 36-13 Mackington United, New Dog. New Tricks 52-36 MarshoFC, Cunha Believe It? 65-36 Herbilore Gameweek 35 fixtures: AVERAGE Vs (Twenty Three), New Dog. New Tricks Vs Ha'Cunha Mateta, Cunha Believe It? Vs Mackington United, Herbilore Vs MarshoFC