The most difficult challenge in English Football
FotMob has teamed up with our mates COPA90 to send Eugene Noble to every single EFL ground this season. That’s 25,000 miles, 92 grounds, in just 9 months. This is the holy grail of English football. Is it even possible? We’re about to find out.
Next up? Stamford Bridge.
You can find all the episodes on COPA90’s Instagram and TikTok pages.
New partnership announced
Girls United Football Association and FotMob have signed a sponsorship deal to support the growth of women’s football. The new partnership will put non-profit organisation Girls United in a position to create more opportunities for girls to play football at their grassroots clubs and grow the visibility of FotMob’s industry leading coverage of the Women’s Super League in the UK.
FotMob’s livescore app includes player ratings, deep stats for matches, teams, and players, as well as live text commentary for the WSL. The company’s investment into covering the women’s game is currently unmatched by other popular livescore apps. “We are very excited to work with FotMob,” said Romina Calatayud, Founder & CEO of Girls United. “Together we are on a mission to raise the standard of provision that is given to girls’ and women’s football. It is a really exciting development for Girls United to partner with a company that is giving the women’s game the exposure that it deserves.”
“We are excited to support the direct impact Girls United’s work has on girls around the globe,” said Curt Baker, Product Strategy Lead at FotMob. “We are strong believers in football as a force for positive change, and Girls United’s work in empowering girls and promoting gender equality — on and off the pitch — is a powerful example of that.”
Both FotMob and Girls United seek to bridge the gap between the opportunities that are given to the men’s game and the women’s game. The sponsorship deal was commended by Caroline Weir, Manchester City forward and Girls United Ambassador, who added: “Equal opportunity in girls’ grassroots football is so important and it is going to take a lot of support from the community to make it happen. Being an ambassador for Girls United, it’s been great to see FotMob become their kit sponsors and contribute to the organisation’s ability to support more girls to play football.”
About Girls United
Girls United establishes safe spaces for girls and young women to have access to sporting programmes that go beyond football development to develop life skills. Providing more girls with the opportunity to succeed, on and off the pitch – and always looking to create a lasting social impact on our local communities.
About FotMob
FotMob is a livescore app featuring live match coverage, detailed stats, and breaking news for over 400 leagues around the world. It has been recognised as a leading sports app by The New York Times, Apple, and Google. Get the app for free on iOS and Android.
The best action to follow this weekend
??????? The Premier League isn’t holding back on the top level drama this weekend, with Chelsea vs. Manchester City one of two early kick-offs coming up today.
The other is Manchester United‘s home game against Aston Villa, two sides that suffered defeat in the midweek round of the EFL Cup.
There are seven EPL games in total, with the day rounded off with Liverpool‘s first ever trip to the new Brentford Community Stadium. These sides contributed a total of seven players to our Team of the Week last weekend, so we’re expecting fireworks in that one.
?? There was a rare midweek round in La Liga this week but as they say, there’s no rest for the wicked and three of the top four all play today.
Leaders Real Madrid face Europa League holders Villarreal at the Bernabéu.
Meanwhile Atlético, who scored another injury-time goal to win at Getafe on Tuesday are on their travels again, this time to Deportivo Alavés. And lastly, Sevilla play an Espanyol side who are fresh from picking up their first win since their top flight return.
?? In Italy, both Milan clubs feature this afternoon. The two have enjoyed a similar start to the season, winning four and drawing one of their opening five games.
Milan go to Spezia, who gave Juventus a scare in the week before ultimately going down to a 3-2 defeat.
And Inter, who’ve scored 18 goals so far will test that impressive record against Atalanta.
?? The Bundesliga schedule for the day includes the Borussen Derby, the battle for bragging rights over who is the best Borussia – Mönchengladbach or Dortmund. Neither side really see each other as their greatest rivals, but this is still a big game between relatively near-neighbours who just so happen to share a prefix.
?? Unbeaten PSG, another side to have enjoyed an injury-time winner in midweek (winning 2-1 at Metz) also play today. At home to Montpellier.
Elsewhere, two of Ligue 1’s other big sides Lille and Lyon are also in action. At home to Lorient and on the road to Strasbourg respectively.
? Lastly, on this busy day of football – some massive derbies to tell you about further afield.
?? Arguably the most heated fixture in Brazilian football takes place today, with São Paulo rivals Corinthians and Palmeiras contesting the Paulista Derby.
?? And in Mexico, there’s not one but two traditional classics. First, the battle between university sides (and big cats!) Tigres UANL and UNAM aka Pumas kicks things off.
Then there’s El Súper Clásico itself, Club América versus Guadalajara, or Chivas as you may prefer to call them.
For more on Mexican football, give our Spanish language twitter account a follow by clicking here.
??????? The Derby theme continues tomorrow, with the Premier League providing us with the latest instalment of the North London Derby; Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur.
Since FotMob records began (with the app starting in 2010), this one has been very evenly contested with the sides sharing seven draws and each enjoying ten wins.
And there’s also a decent test for Arsenal Women in the WSL, as our friends Two Girls Talk Balls explain:
“Amongst the Sunday fixtures are two huge games: Manchester United vs. Chelsea and Arsenal vs. Manchester City.
Shock early defeats for both Chelsea and City mean their star-studded squads must take home the points.
Arsenal, however, have got off to a flying start and could be favourites to claim yet another blue scalp.”
?? Serie A is another league serving up the big guns this weekend, with Sunday’s headliner Lazio vs. Roma set to give José Mourinho his first taste of the Derby della Capitale.
Elsewhere Juventus, who finally picked up their first league win of the season in midweek entertain Sampdoria and unbeaten, rampaging Napoli go in to their game against Cagliari on the back of consecutive 4-0 victories.
?? The last game on our radar this weekend comes in La Liga, where Barcelona host Levante.
The Catalan giants are still unbeaten in the league up to this point but one wonders whether Ronald Koeman – sent off during the lacklustre draw against Cadíz on Thursday will still be in the dugout if Barça produce anything other than a win in this one.
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!
Cover Image from IMAGO
The hardest challenge in English Football
FotMob has teamed up with our mates COPA90 to send Eugene Noble to every single EFL ground this season. That’s 25,000 miles, 92 grounds, in just 9 months. This is the holy grail of English football. Is it even possible? We’re about to find out.
Next up? Selhurst Park, the home of Crystal Palace.
You can find all the episodes on COPA90’s Instagram and TikTok pages.
We caught up with the former Norwegian international still playing for the love of the game.
If you’ve spent much time online in the last couple of weeks, you may have seen the social media posts celebrating the 40th birthday of one of the Premier Leagues most endearing flair players from the 2000s, Blackburn Rovers hero Morten Gamst Pedersen.
And if you’ve been following the FotMob Twitter account, you probably already know that the man himself is currently showcasing those mercurial talents and scoring outrageous goals for Alta, a club in Norway’s third tier.
Situated approximately 400km above the Arctic Circle, Alta lies in Pedersen’s home county of Finnmark and he chose to join the team after leaving Eliteserien (Norway’s top division) side Tromsø in 2019.
But on this weekend in mid-September, we travelled the relatively short distance north from FotMob’s HQ in Bergen to watch Alta, and Pedersen, play against Florø SK. It was still a journey of over 200km, including a ferry ride, but close by Norwegian football standards.
The team’s own journey hadn’t gone entirely to plan, as Pedersen explains.
“When we came yesterday, all the luggage, it was gone. That’s why we wore Florø’s away kit. We had no kit, everything was gone. Nobody knows where it is.”
So why then, when his contemporaries are sat at home, or in the relative comfort of the television studio spouting opinions on the game, is Pedersen still doing it? And at a level where it takes two flights to get to an away game and you can’t even be sure that your kit is going to make it there with you?
“I love to play football, that’s the thing. I go to training everyday and I look forward to the games. I spend so much time on keeping my body healthy and well.
And I want to play football as long as I can because for me, I’ve been lucky and I’m still lucky to have my dream as my work, you know.”
Pedersen’s passion for the game is evident out on the pitch and he quietly dictates play from a position sat just in front of the Alta defence. Trying out one-touch pass after pass with the left foot that made him famous, he looks like he’s enjoying himself.
After one pass goes awry, someone from the crowd of approximately 150 partisan locals shouts out that he’s finished. Pedersen just keeps on smiling and responds shortly after, from the halfway line with a quickly taken free-kick that sails just over the bar. That would have been sweet.
But as the game wears on, Alta, more used to plying their trade indoors (wouldn’t you 400km north of the Arctic Circle?), begin to struggle with the increasingly heavy surface. And indeed, they go 1-0 down thanks to a defensive error.
Pedersen though, is relishing the chance to stretch his legs. And as the experienced pro, he knows his time will come.
“We don’t play too much on grass, I love to play on the grass. Of course it’s different, but for me I like it, I’ve played more on grass than artificial in my life.”
On 77 minutes, a Florø player lashes out and receives a second yellow card. The change in Alta’s tempo is almost instantaneous. You can see Pedersen’s calm authority spread amongst his teammates as he himself turns it up a notch.
Within a couple of minutes, Alta level when a cross swung in to the box is headed home by 16-year-old Peter Brekke. It’s his first professional goal but there’s no time for celebrations, there’s a game to win.
And win it they do.
In the 87th minute Alta overrun the home side down the flank and as the ball is pulled back across the area, the stage is set for our hero Morten to step forward and really put his laces through it. He does exactly that and the ball smashes home, top corner. Keeper no chance. It’s exactly what we came to see!
“That was good. I almost scored from the halfway line in the first half, I had a good shot just before that got blocked and then it was nice to get the third try…
You can’t give me too many chances you know, because sometimes, that can happen.”
We catch Pedersen as he leaves the pitch triumphant and he stops for a chat, inviting us in to the dressing room area out of the cold. We talk about the game and about Alta. His eyes light up when he mentions the 24-year age gap between the two goalscorers, and it’s that commitment to the club that shines through.
“Alta is a club that’s never been to the OBOS Ligaen (Norway’s second tier). I could be playing in the Eliteserien you know.
When I left Tromsø, I could have gone to some other clubs but then I thought, okay many people know what I can do, but my county is Finnmark.
And I’ve been lucky to come from there and play football and they have done so much for me, so I said I’d try to give something back for that place.”
The result left Alta sixth in the table with promotion perhaps beyond them, for this year at least. And individually, Pedersen moved to nine goals for the season – his previous eight all coming from free-kicks, penalties, or believe-it-or-not, direct from corners. He’s scored three of those.
So when you think of him next, or an old Blackburn Rovers clip comes up on television, remember that Pedersen is probably still out there, fighting for his community club, smiling away and scoring worldies.
Our top-rated performers in Spain
Real Madrid’s entire front three make FotMob’s La Liga Team of the Week this week, after a 2-1 win over Valencia, with Vinicius Junior and Karim Benzema each getting a goal and an assist. Alongside them, Eden Hazard created the most chances in the match (6).
It was Sevilla’s keeper, Bono, however, who garnered the top rating of the week, saving a penalty in their 0-0 draw at Real Sociedad.
The best action to follow this weekend
??????? You’ve made it through the International Break and now you get to reap the rewards on a day filled with EIGHT Premier League games.
They include, and you might have heard about this one – Manchester United vs. Newcastle United and the return of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. Kicking off at the same time there’s the interesting looking game between Leicester City and Manchester City and we’ll see whether Arsenal can wake from their slumber as they face Norwich City.
And after all that, European Champions Chelsea take on Aston Villa in the evening kick-off.
?? Elsewhere, it’s also a busy day in the Bundesliga. Wolfsburg, the only side left with a 100% record after three rounds travel to promoted side Greuther Fürth whilst Borussia Dortmund and everyone’s favourite Norwegian, Erling Haaland go to Bayer Leverkusen.
And saving the best until last in another big evening kick-off, Julian Nagelsmann must take his Bayern München side back to RB Leipzig, the side he joined from during the summer, bringing a number of ex-Leipzig personnel with him.
?? After his heroics on Thursday night with Argentina, we might have to wait for Lionel Messi to make his first start for PSG but their game in Ligue 1 should be of interest anyway, as the giants take on the minnows of Clermont Foot. The side making their top flight debut have held their own so far, unbeaten after four games and boasting the second highest number of goals scored, behind the Parisians.
Staying in France, there’s the clash between two of the league’s other big sides as Monaco meet Marseille in the Principality.
?? It may be early days in the Serie A season, they’ve played just two rounds so far but today’s game between Napoli and Juventus should be an early indicator of how both are setting up for the new campaign. Juventus are without a win, whilst Napoli have conceded only once in victories over Venezia and Genoa.
?? Lastly today, we look to Portugal, now officially Europe’s 5th best league according to the UEFA Coefficient ratings. Here, we get another early season headliner as defending champions Sporting host Porto, the side they usurped to win their first title in 19 years just a few months ago.
??????? Tomorrow, there’s just the one Premier League game on offer with Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United welcoming Liverpool to Elland Road.
That gives us the opportunity to check in on the second weekend of the new Women’s Super League season in England, previewed here by our friends at Two Girls Talk Balls:
‘Chelsea will be looking to make amends for their defeat to Arsenal last weekend when they play Everton at home. Everton will still be reeling from their thumping at the hands of City and can ill afford another hammering.
City are currently top of the pile in the league and must not let their poor Champions League display filter through to their league form. They take on Spurs at home in the final match of the weekend.
At the bottom end of the table West Ham and Birmingham both have potentially winnable fixtures at home to Villa and Brighton respectively. Elsewhere Leicester meet Manchester United in their first home WSL game and Reading host in form Arsenal.’
?? Sunday is traditionally the busier day of the weekend in Serie A and tomorrow is no exception. Champions Inter kick-off proceedings in the lunchtime game, away at Sampdoria.
Then later, in probably the day’s main event Milan host Lazio back at the San Siro with both sides looking to maintain their 100% start to the campaign. Lazio begin this round on top of the pile having scored nine goals in their opening two games.
And finally, Roma take on Sassuolo in the final game of the day. These sides both ended on the same number of points last season (62) but with Roma’s investment in squad, and manager they’ll be hoping for significant improvement this time around.
?? In La Liga, where two of today’s games, including Sevilla vs. Barcelona have been postponed due to the lateness of the South American World Cup qualifiers, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for a real fix from Spain’s top flight.
Then, Atlético Madrid will be in Barcelona to face Espanyol whilst Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid side at home against Celta Vigo.
??????? We’ll leave you by pointing you in the direction of Scottish football’s second biggest derby – Sunday’s meeting between Edinburgh rivals Hearts and Hibernian. Not as high profile as the Old Firm but as fiercely felt by all involved and this one maybe even more so. That is because after four rounds of the Premiership season, the sides are neck-and-neck at the top of the table with Hibs only in first place by virtue of goals difference.
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!
Cover Image from IMAGO
The hardest challenge in English Football
FotMob has teamed up with our mates COPA90 to send Eugene Noble to every single EFL ground this season. That’s 25,000 miles, 92 grounds, in just 9 months. This is the holy grail of English football. Is it even possible? We’re about to find out.
First up? Fratton Park, the home of Portsmouth FC.
The best action to follow this weekend
??????? Today is action packed and particularly in England where there are seven Premier League games on the schedule. First up Arsenal, perhaps buoyed by their Carabao Cup win in midweek will be trying to break their league duck at Manchester City.
And Liverpool host Chelsea in a rivalry that has become pretty intense over the past few seasons. Elsewhere, early leaders West Ham United welcome fellow Londoners, Crystal Palace to the former Olympic Stadium.
?? There’s four games on the slate in La Liga today, and a couple of the main contenders do feature. Putting transfer speculation to one side, at least for 90 minutes, Real Madrid need to concentrate on a tough trip to Real Betis who despite drawing both their fixtures so far, do usually put up a fight against the big boys. Meanwhile, Betis’ city rivals Sevilla visit Elche in the other big game of the day.
?? In Serie A, Juventus play their first game of the post-Ronaldo era, at home to newly promoted side Empoli. What sort of team will Allegri put out now he doesn’t have to be build it around one player? And how will their fair having had to settle for a draw after letting slip a 2-0 lead at Udinese last week… and then have an injury time winner ruled out by VAR?
?? Bayern München, who as usual are going about their transfer business in an orderly manner play what will be the third game of their latest Bundesliga title defence, at home against Hertha.
? And just because we know everyone loves a derby, we thought we’d point you in the direction of the English Championship – where Wayne Rooney’s Derby County face near-neighbours Nottingham Forest AND Bristol City make the shot trip across the Severn Bridge from England to Wales in order to play Cardiff City.
Lastly, in MLS there’s the latest edition of El Tráfico to look forward to – LAFC vs. LA Galaxy.
?? Tomorrow’s batch of La Liga matches begins with Barcelona at home to Getafe and ends with perhaps the most interesting game in the league this weekend. Reigning champions Atlético Madrid against last season’s Europa League winners, Villarreal.
??????? All being well, given recent COVID related issues amongst the home team squad, the Scottish Premiership gives us one of World football’s biggest, and most intense games – Rangers vs. Celtic.
Both teams successfully qualified for the Europa League group stages on Thursday night but we’ll have to see whether Rangers’ longer return trip, from Armenia compared to a short hop from the Netherlands for Celtic will have any bearing on the result. The defending champions are unbeaten in six against their Old Firm rivals.
?? Heading back to Italy, José Mourinho’s impressive looking Roma side play Salernitana, who were recently promoted back to Serie A for the first time in 23 years. And elsewhere, Milan face off against Cagliari.
??????? With the international break starting on Monday, we get all all three of the remaining games in this round of the Premier League taking place tomorrow. Burnley entertain Leeds United. Tottenham Hotspur, fresh from their progression in the Europa Conference League host Watford and later Manchester United play away at Wolves.
We’ll have to wait and see whether you know who gets a watching brief for that one.
?? And as we’ve just alluded to of the world’s biggest players – we better mention the other one as it is being reported that Lionel Messi is set to make his PSG debut at some point during their trip to Reims.
You might want to set your alerts for that one. ?
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!
The best action to follow this weekend
And just like that, all the major European leagues are back to relative normality with the 2021/22 season now truly under way.
??????? In England, the Premier League gives us six games today, including Liverpool at home to Burnley, Leeds United vs. Everton and after last week’s defeat at Spurs, the chance for Manchester City to kickstart their campaign against Norwich City.
?? Barcelona enjoyed a fine win over Real Sociedad in their first La Liga outing of the post-Messi era and tonight, they make the trip to the Basque Country to play the other big side from the region, Athletic Club. This will be a re-run of the Copa del Rey final that Barça won so convincingly back in April.
?? Serie A finally joins the party this weekend, and we get a decent game to kick things off with the new-look defending champions Inter at home to Genoa. It will be interesting to see how the side settle after the loss of their Scudetto winning coach and leading players.
Elsewhere, another side more used to losing star players but adept at continuing to impress without them – Atalanta go to Torino. And Lazio begin their campaign at newly promoted Empoli.
?? If anything, Lille’s start as defending champions in France was more disastrous than Manchester City’s in England, with them going down 4-0 at home to Nice last weekend. Today though, there’s a chance to right those wrongs on the road at the ever unpredictable Saint Etienne.
?? That leaves us with just the big games in Germany left to highlight. Borussia Dortmund need to recover from their midweek loss to Bayern in the Supercup when they visit Freiburg and there’s also the clash between the sides regularly competing for European football, Bayer Leverkusen against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
In the first of those games, don’t forget to keep an eye out for the Norwegian destroyer.
?? Tomorrow, the majority of Serie A’s heavyweights play their opening games.
For Juventus, that means a trip to Udinese. Napoli face Venezia, one of the untested promoted teams who’ve been winning all sorts of friends with their kits and social media presence. And José Mourinho will be looking forward to seeing how his new Roma side fare at home to another of the league’s most historic clubs, Fiorentina.
?? In La Liga, the Madrid sides dominate the agenda with reigning champions Atlético playing Elche at home and Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid going to Levante.
Madrid fans will be hoping Karim Benzema can carry on where he left off last week against Alavés.
??????? Sunday throws up some real treats in the Premier League with three games of significance. Manchester United start us off at Southampton whilst kicking off at the time, Nuno Espírito Santo takes Spurs to former club Wolves in an early test of his management.
And then, to round off the day there’s the all-London clash between Arsenal and European Champions, Chelsea.
?? Finally, Bayern München entertain FC Köln in the Bundesliga. It’s been a mixed start to the season for the champions, rescuing a draw against Gladbach in their opening league game before winning the Super Cup against arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund. And then suffering a day of intense rumours with Robert Lewandowski supposedly looking for a new challenge.
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!