Midfielder Rodri's potential season-ending injury could prove pivotal for Manchester City's title defence, while punters' Superbru picks get tricky.
EPL SHIRT INCOME TO REACH A BILLION
Hollywoodbets are the front-of-shirt sponsors of Brentford, and that’s prime estate as the revenue for English Premier League clubs from shirt income is predicted to reach £1 billion for the first time. Man United top the charts (combined amount from kit supplier, front of shirt sponsor and sleeve sponsor) with £170 million.
Man City are next (£150 million) and Liverpool third (£137 million). Brentford revenue is £9.5 million, 19th on that revenue table. Ipswich are at the foot with £6m from that revenue stream – £4 million of which comes from their front shirt sponsor, popstar Ed Sheeran.
WHY PLAYERS COULD BURN OUT
Those who say footballers are complaining about playing too much while they’re receiving huge money to do so should read this. In this case, both statements can be true. The World Players’ Union Fifpro says the “red zone” for players is 55 games a season.
Man City’s Rodri (injured against Arsenal last week) played 50 times for City last season and 13 times for Spain, which makes him “burnt out”. With an expansion to the Champions League this season, some players could total more than 70 games.
RODRI A KEY TO CITY SUCCESS
Rodri, whose knee injury sustained against Arsenal has led to fears that he might miss the rest of the season, is one of the most influential players in the Man City side. Given their history without them, they will be constantly refreshing updates on his recovery.
Based on their previous results of points averages without him, they’d get to 76 at the end of this season. This would have placed them 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd and 2nd in recent League campaigns.
So, unfortunately we saw another high profile ACL injury this last week with Rodri at @ManCity ⚽️ 🏴
— Damian Harper, PhD (@DHMov) September 24, 2024
📍DECELERATiNG from high speed
📍BRAKiNG with single limb support
📍External force from defender
📍20 mins into 1st half
NOTE: Forces during these BRAKING steps are huge ‼️👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/gEgbn2KxL0
SACK RACE WINNER SHORTLIST NOW FOUR
No one wants to see anyone out of a job, but when it comes to football management – and especially the English Premier League – you get hired to be fired. Generally, most of the dismissed managers land on their feet though.
We’re still waiting for the inevitable first manager to win the annual “sack race” and the latest odds after five of 38 rounds have Sean Dyche (Everton) and Gary O’Neil (Wolves) as 4-1 favourites to go next, with Julen Lopetegui (West Ham) and Steve Cooper (Leicester) at 5-1. Defeat for either Everton (home to Palace) or West Ham (away to Brentford) could accelerate the process for Dyche and Lopetegui.
IN-GAME PASSION OR OVERSTEPPING?
In May this year, Roy Keane (who else?) split opinion when he called Erling Haaland “a spoilt brat”. Many felt Keane’s history with the Haaland family was making him biased. Last week the younger Haaland gave the likes of Keane further ammo.
While he is a goal machine, his off-the-ball, and off-the-field antics do leave much to be desired. His latest toys-out-the-cot act was when City equalised against Arsenal. He picked up the ball and threw it at the back of Gabriel’s head. In the ensuing scuffle he told Gabriel Jesus to “get the f*** away, you f****** clown”, aimed a “who the f**k are you?” at young Myles Lewis-Skelly and then told Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, “Stay humble eh, stay humble eh.” Some say it’s passion in the heat of the moment.
Erling Haaland to Mikel Arteta and Gabriel Jesus after Man City’s 2-2 draw vs. Arsenal 😲 pic.twitter.com/aoFdTBSlXn
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) September 23, 2024
THROWING SPANNERS INTO THE WORKS
My complicated, but always fun, Superbru trend system threw up the draw between Man City and Arsenal last week. It actually told me, “City won’t win”. The previous week it said Liverpool wouldn’t beat Forest at Anfield, but still, a loss was unthinkable. This week I have five hallelujahs, which suggests it’s not an easy round.
For what it’s worth – and it’s more a discussion point than anything else – Ipswich are “due” to beat Aston Villa, Forest won’t beat Fulham, Bournemouth and Southampton to draw, Liverpool to concede against Wolves and Everton to beat Palace. Four away wins are also back on the menu this week.
