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- Slot's Weekend of Big Decisions ❤️
Slot's Weekend of Big Decisions ❤️
Plus, El Clásico returns.
Hail GFOP!
I type with fingers braced for the carnage: Liverpool seek to stop their Premier League free-fall by facing up to Jordan Henderson and Caoimhin Kelleher. Nottingham Forest enter the Sean Dyche era with the imperious ginge instantly delivering victory. Everton attempt to maintain their undefeated record at their new fortress, despite the fact that I will be in attendance like Jonah in the whale…
ii. I write early in the morning England time from Bromley, South London. Last night I went to watch Crystal Palace’s historic first-ever European night. Forget the result—the atmosphere was electric. I stood by the FA Cup and the Community Shield, along with CEO Steve Parish, and realized how incredible it is what that club has done in the past season in terms of the memories they have made for their fanbase. Every fan of every team (apart from Brighton) can only marvel.
To watch Adam Wharton, Wilpshire Pirlo, in the flesh was ecstatic. I interviewed him this week and it was fascinating to listen to a borderline-telepathic passer talk rationally about how he is able to unleash his repertoire of deeply-lying wonder. Watch this interview now and listen to Adam talk about how he often knows what he is going to do with the ball before it even comes to him. Gent strolled on with 19 minutes to go and immediately hit the kind of defense-splitting pass that makes your skin crackle with awe. 🦅
iii. We trained down from Liverpool where we had flown in Thursday morning to spend some time with Everton and Jordan Pickford to mark his new contract. Jordan is a sweet and humble gent who talked in depth about how his personality changes when he steps on the field, and how he has searched for an ever-deeper consistency. I cannot wait to head back there on Sunday against Tottenham to experience the Hill Dickinson for the first time. I feel quite emotional about it all to be honest—echoes of my first game at Goodison with my dad as a seven-year-old, and the memories of that epic last Derby without him. 💙
iv. Tomorrow, we are headed to Middlesbrough with Wrexham’s traveling army. If you are headed there, let us know. It would be epic to have a pint with you. 🐉
v. I am thrilled our November 11 show at the historic Stone Pony sold out within a day. It is very meaningful to me, personally and professionally, to play such an iconic venue and celebrate the state where the World Cup final will be. 🙌
🚨 San Jose! Save the date: Nov. 20. An unforgettable night in the Bay Area awaits.
vi. Joel Embiid is one of my favorite repeat guests. I love how much he loves football and adores talking about it. The joy it brings him is so meaningful. I also love just how he admires Peter Drury. Watch the whole show here. 🏀
vii. Another beautiful weekend of football means another chance to watch within the mental confines of that digital pub we call the Men in Blazers Discord. It adds so much to the experience, I truly love it. Whether you’re watching alone on the couch or with thousands of blues on that 34.99-degree South Stand like I will be, get in there and let’s enjoy together. Join us. 🍻
Courage,
ROG
To the Football 🍻
Brentford vs. Liverpool (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, USA)
And breathe, Liverpool fans. The four-game losing streak was triaged by a 5-1 Champions League win in Frankfurt. The title challenge must now be kayak-rolled. Arne Slot has a gaggle of enormous decisions to make. None bigger than whether to bench Mo Salah once again as he did midweek, or field him now that Alexander Isak is battling a groin knack. Slot changed personnel and formation midweek, as Florian Wirtz played on the right in midfield of a 4-4-2, earning his first assists for the Reds. Spending time in Liverpool this week has exposed me to the real sense of confusion surrounding this team, and why they are having the transition-damp squib season many expected last year, but right now, as defending Champions.
Rogstradamus 🔮: Can Liverpool build their fractured confidence, balance risk and reward with a tactically cohesive vision, and banish the torment of the past month against a Scrappy-Doo Brentford featuring four former Reds eminently capable of pissing in the punch? Liverpool have not lost four straight in the PL since February 2021. Jordan Henderson will revel in the Bees’ grinding approach to the game, which will end 2-2.
More: What must Slot do to rejuvenate Liverpool?
Leeds vs. West Ham (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, USA)
Relegation knife fight in October. This statistic is amazing to me: Leeds have taken the seventh-most shots in the PL this season, but only three sides have scored fewer goals than them and they are all in the relegation zone.
Rogstradamus 🔮: Nuno couldn’t, could he? Dominic Calvert-Lewin break-out game. Leeds 3-1.
Manchester United vs. Brighton (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC)
Not since August 2024 have Manchester United won three big boy league games in a row. Victory would trigger incandescent celebration. Defeat will re-conjure a sense of existential angst and lack of haircuts. Incredibly, United have lost six of their last seven against Brighton, who have four goals in three games—Danny Welbeck alive and thriving at 34 years old.
Rogstradamus 🔮: Welbeck lives a life set on perma-revenge. The 34-year-old is incredibly the final remaining member of United’s last league-winning team to remain active. He will score the winner, 2-1 Seagulls.
Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)
European action was energizing for one of these teams. After nine barren games, Viktor Gyökeres netted the kind of scuffed, feisty goals he was brought in to finish. Crystal Palace floundered 1-0 when handed the initiative and 67% possession by Cypriot scrappers Larnaca. It remains unclear if the Eagles can cope with the European grind of six games in 18 days. Et tu, Eze? Eberechi’s first ever game against Palace, for whom he scored the winner in the FA Cup final delirium of last season.
Rogstradamus 🔮: Can anyone contain Gabriel when he attempts to get his meaty Brazilian head on a Rice set piece? Chris Richards will revel in the challenge. This game will be some rumble, but Arsenal will find a way again 1-0.
More: Can Arsenal’s defense—leaking just three goals this season—lead them to glory? Fascinating read.
Aston Villa vs. Manchester City (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, USA)
The needle fell off Aston Villa’s five-game winning streak in all competitions as they were shocked by the best-named team in all of Europe: Dutch Duffers, Go Ahead Eagles. Erling Haaland has scored 11 times in eight games—just as breathtaking as that feat is the player’s debut long-form YouTube. A curious watch in which the superlative giant takes us into his own life, expressing his humble swagger and sly sense of humor. It is a fascinating decision that Haaland has decided to take control of his own narrative and express his life as a dedicated all-in commitment to the search for marginal gains. Come for the diet and exercise tips, stick around for the giant teddy bear in the corner of his kitchen.
Rogstradamus 🔮: 2-0 City. Haaland gonna Haaland.
Bournemouth vs. Nottingham Forest (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock)
What a European night at the City Ground last night. After three days, two training sessions, two penalties and one win, Sean Dyche achieved victory over Porto in his first match in charge—an experience that eluded poor, bewildered Ange Postecoglou in his agonizing eight-game disaster class. Dyche, that gravel-voiced ginger brawler, was a youth team player at the club, and has said all the right things upon his return. Watch this Pulitzer Prize-worthy speech on “Skinny jeans, flared jeans” to propel a towel-whipping-in-the-locker-room new manager bounce and drag Forest out of the bottom three. Andoni Iraola will have a tactical plan for the arrival of Dycheball, which is the footballing equivalent of a visit to the proctologist.
Rogstradamus 🔮: Bournemouth 2-1. Golden War Cherries SZN. Interesting counter-narrative on Ange at Forest and why it was not as bad as it looked.
Everton vs. Tottenham (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, USA)
Everton are unbeaten in five games at their new Big Dick Stadium. Enter Spurs, who for all their inconsistency at home, have the best away form in the league and remain unbeaten. I found the energy around Everton to be absolutely buzzing upon my return there this week, and not just the new home, which has been, financially, akin to a chrysalis for a relegation-challenged caterpillar to crawl into and emerge as a beautiful blue butterfly. The characters around the team—Grealish, Dewsbury-Hall, and Ndiaye—have given the squad a buccaneering confidence in which they are no longer looking behind them. The lack of strikers will frustrate us until January, but I am going to sit in the South Stand with its vertigo-inducing 39.99-degree pitch, bellow my heart out and revel in all that is to come. What could possibly go wrong?
Rogstradamus 🔮: Spurs turn my joy into ashes in my mouth. 2-0. Richarlison’s late backbreaker, living proof that football is just pain. I, for one, am ready to be hurt again.
🗓️ Elsewhere in the Premier League:
Chelsea vs. Sunderland (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock) 💙🐈⬛
Newcastle vs. Fulham (Saturday, 10 a.m. ET, USA) 🐦⬛🤍
Wolves vs. Burnley (Sunday, 10 a.m. ET, Peacock) 🐺🩵
Help Us Crown America’s Best Soccer Bar 25/26 🍻
Today we are kicking off one of the most fun parts of our year: finding the best soccer bars in America. Last year you helped us crown THE BREWHOUSE CAFE in Atlanta, Ga., as America’s Best Soccer Bar, presented by Michelob ULTRA. 💙
Now, it’s time for round two. The 2025–26 search for America’s Best Soccer Bar is officially ON. We’re scouring our great nation and we want you GFOPs to help. Your submissions will help us find the best of the best, where fans share in winning and losing, all while making great memories through football. 🫵
The contest begins with NOMINATING YOUR FAVORITE SOCCER BAR HERE. Share with your friends, your bar-mates and your supporters' groups. Let’s do this, America. 🏆
Even More Football ⚽️
Messi signs a new contract, but will his Avengers Assemble experience in Miami be a failure unless it delivers victory?
That La Liga clash in Miami… lasted less time than Ange Postecolgou. Postponed temporarily or cancelled forever, you be the judge…
“Bend It Like Beckham” was a classic soccer movie—with one very worrying relationship.
The Correspondent w/ Rory Smith: The Master Arrives in Nottingham 🌳
Rory writes: Rebounds, as Ange Postecoglou might now reflect, rarely work out. His tenure at Nottingham Forest might only have lasted 39 days, but even that was long enough to see that he had not fully processed all that happened to him at Tottenham. It felt fitting that he spent a considerable amount of what would be his last press conference defending his record in north London. We have all, I think, been in relationships like that.
His successor, Sean Dyche, arrives in Nottingham with a different quest. Dyche has always felt that he has never quite received the credit he is due, that his comparative achievements at Burnley and (to a lesser extent) Everton were dismissed because he was not – let’s be honest about this – a svelte Mediterranean man playing polo-neck football.
For Dyche, then, Forest is a golden opportunity. This is a team with a squad good enough to challenge for a top half finish, a genuine shot at a European trophy, and an owner ready to commit money for reinforcements. There is a downside, in the form of Evangelos Marinakis’ demanding streak, but that is not much of a price to pay for the most aspirational job Dyche has ever had.
Beautiful Football Around the World 🌎
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (Sunday, 11:15 a.m. ET, ESPN) 🇪🇸
Roughly 700 million people across the world are expected to watch Xabi Alonso’s Los Blancos host their old enemy, who they lead in La Liga by two points, propelled by Kylian Mbappé, who truly looks like a galactico this season with 15 goals in all comps. But the decisive battle could be in midfield, where men who are human microcosms of their respective clubs, Jude Bellingham and Pedri, will collide in a style clash that could create a footballing Jackson Pollock. Barca manager Hansi Flick is suspended after he saw red against Girona last weekend, and although Raphinha should return to lead his side’s press alongside Mr. Dependable, Marcus Rashford, Robert Lewandowski, Gavi and Joan García are all still sidelined.
Napoli vs. Inter Milan (Saturday, 12 p.m. ET, Paramount+)🇮🇹
Antonio Conte’s Manchester reunited Napoli side are crestfallen following a 6-2 pasting at the hands of USA Eindhoven in the Champions League this week, and a 1-0 Serie A defeat at Torino last weekend. They’re second, a place below but level on points with opponents Inter Milan, who are on an upward trajectory in club legend Christian Chivu’s debut season as manager. With Marcus Thuram still out with a thigh injury, 21-year-old French attacker Ange-Yoan Bonny, who has an impressive six Serie A goal contributions this season, is expected to deputize Lautaro Martinez up top. These two teams have arm-wrestled over the Scudetto in recent years, and Inter will be determined to rectify handing it to Conte’s side on the final day of last season.
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Bayern Munich (Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+) 🇩🇪
“I’m the captain now,” said Harry Kane after his one-man masterclass against Borussia Dortmund to lengthen Bayern’s five-point Bundesliga lead last weekend. Manager Vincent Kompany was smiling ear-to-ear when he signed a new contract this week, safe in the knowledge he’s giving Liverpool fans Luis Díaz FOMO while possessing arguably the world’s most complete player in Kane, who has 20 goals in 12 games for the Bavarians this season. Borussia Mönchengladbach are the Bundesliga’s only winless side and look doomed at the bottom of the table, so they’ll welcome Bayern to town like the grim reaper.
The Women’s Game - USA vs. Portugal (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, TNT) 🇺🇸 🇵🇹
A first-minute goal from Rose Lavelle was not enough in Pennsylvania last night as the USWNT lost 2-1 to Portugal in the first of three friendlies this international window. Emma Hayes will have just two days to work with her Trinity Rodman-less squad before they meet the Portuguese for Sunday’s rematch in Connecticut where the team will also honor the retirement of USWNT legend Alyssa Naeher.
Sam Mewis and Twila Kilgore will go live on YouTube immediately after the whistle on Sunday evening to break it all down. Join them here. 📺
Introducing Pet FC’s Newest Member: Chilli 🐶
We have partnered with the two-legged people at Purina to create Pet FC, a new initiative where we will be featuring YOUR four-legged friends that show a true love of football on par with their human counterparts.
This Pit Bull/Australian Shepherd mix from St. Louis, Mo., gets his name from Bukayo Saka's "Lil Chilli" nickname. He loves watching along during matches and barking away every time the Gunners score. A Proper Arsenal pup. ♥️
Do you have a great football story involving the dog or cat in your life? Click the link below to submit your pets and pet stories, and we will be regularly featuring the best of the best here in the Raven and on our social channels. What's more, we have Purina prize packs for every pet featured.
MiB Mad Libs 📝
This week’s phrase is: “If I could rename El Clásico, I’d call it _________.”
Email us your submissions to be in contention to win a coveted MiB patch.
We had one of our fullest ever Mad Lib mailbags this week, but there can only be one winner:
Archer Dunn: “If the Liverpool vs. Manchester United derby was a film, Michael Bay would direct it because there are enough explosions to forsake quality.”
Archer — Drop us a line with your postal and we will send you a patch. 📬
Not Football and All the Better for It 📖
Walkachusetts: I ruptured my achilles in January.
Wasting away again in Chicago (???) ‘I Don’t Want To Get Off Yet’.
"Instead of doing anything normal with my life for the past week, I have been on a horrible hiking holiday with the worst man in the world." I cannot stop playing this preposterous game.
Nobody writes like Ben Lerner: Cardiography.
“The Conjuring: Cambridgeshire.” The Mild Mannered Englishman Who Was the World’s Most Prolific Ghost Hunter.
This Song Helped Me Through the Week: “Name the Band” by This is Lorelei.
I Read This Book and LOVED It: “The Book of I” by David Greig. A viking raid on a remote Scottish isle in 825 A.D. leaves a trio of unexpected survivors alive and alone. The harmony and balance they experience together in the wake is both humorous and life affirming. I could not love this book more.
A GFOP Writes… ✍️
Illy of Baton Rouge, La. writes: “Rog, I am happy to hear you are headed to watch some football in London. In an alterna-life, if you had been born down south and lived in London, who do you think you would have grown up supporting?”
Rog writes: Illy, what a question. Cockney Rog is some parallel life not lived. To be honest—it is hard to be hypothetical about these matters. I am such a product of Liverpool. If I lived in London, I think I would be a very different me. Harder. More ambitious. Partial to greyhound racing. A different creature. So it is hard to say. Also, which part of London I grew up in would be such a driver of the answer. I can tell you which clubs I admire. Palace: The passion. The community. The conscious memory making. Brentford: The intelligent way the club is run with strategy, vision and confident decision making. Spurs: The feeling of flair moments but of being second best, like the Everton of the South. But in the modern period, I feel huge respect for Arsenal’s hero’s journey of epic proportions and root for them more than I can say. So, pick one of those if you can…
Keep sending your stories and questions to [email protected].
To Better Days Ahead for All.
Let’s not take a moment watching football together for granted and make great memories.
Big Love.
Courage,
ROG
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