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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

It's Premier League preview time, two pods, alphabetical order, as is tradition.

Our panelists come with a predicted table and hopefully an interesting fact about each team so you can wow your friends.

The podcast equivalent of a newspaper pull-out, transfer ins and outs, ones to watch, the big narratives.

After the big question of who's first, Arsenal or Bournemouth, we go through half the teams then.

Arsenal, can they do it?

Do they need a number nine?

Aston Villa bought a lot, sold a couple of big players and have Champions League to contend with.

Bournemouth, Lost Solanke, will they keep Areola?

Brentford, what's Ivan Tony?

still doing there?

Brighton, have a child managing them.

Chelsea, something, something, need a few more signings.

Crystal Palace, needs to hold on to their remaining stars.

Everton, crisis.

Fulham, full stop.

And finally, Ipswich back in the Premier League.

That's probably everything covered.

But if you want a little more, carry on listening to today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Barry Glendenning, welcome.

Hello.

Hello, Jonathan Wilson.

Morning.

Hello, Jordan Jarrett Bryan.

Hello, mate.

How are you doing?

I'm very good.

Interesting, Wilson.

That might be the first time you haven't asked me how I am.

I'll be honest,

I've been slightly distracted already.

This interest, I thought it was just meant to be something interesting about the team for the coming season.

It was actually meant to be a bit of trivia about the clubs.

Oh, it can be interesting about the season.

That's fine.

Okay.

I mean, I can just do historical trivia.

Can I just

ad-lib that?

If anyone can, you can.

Jordan, a different Jordan says, why haven't you covered my team properly?

Jeremy says, who will inevitably omit Southampton and have Philip Palace finishing both ninth and 13th?

We had so many people messaging about forgetting teams that I don't think anyone will forget anyone this time.

But we will see.

Look, we're going to begin with Arsenal.

I hope Bournemouth fans aren't too angry.

But I put it in the WhatsApp group and Wilson was categoric about Arsenal being ahead of Bournemouth.

Oh, it's nonsense.

AFC Bournemouth.

No.

It's Bournemouth.

Okay.

Like, really, they should still be Bournemouth and Boscombe.

There's my fact about Bournemouth.

You can have that.

Really?

That's what they were called when they promoted to the league.

Okay.

Let's start with Arsenal then.

They brought in Riccardo Califiore from Bologna.

M.

L.

Smith Rowe has gone to Fulham.

They begin home to Wolves, go to Villa, home to Brighton, then go to Spurs and Man City.

Obviously, came second last season, Jordan.

Can they finally do it?

I think they can do it this year.

And I'm going to try to give a little bit more analysis than just it's their time.

It's got to be their time, which I've been hearing from a lot of people, which isn't real analysis.

That's just a feeling.

I think they'll win it this year, not because i feel like arsenal have done enough in the window to really move the needle enough to make them more than competitors but the team to be feared in terms of manchester city but i just think the manchester city won't have the same season they had last year and therefore i think 90 points this year wins the league and i think arsenal will get 90 points i don't think city will i think the third year now of going for a title um there's the experience of being the team that didn't expect to be in the title race but was in it second year we expect expect to be in it and we just got picked.

I think this is the third year where there's a confidence and there's a kind of energy of expectation that actually this is the year we need to go and grab the mantle and I think they will do that.

I think there's enough goals in the team.

I think the rotation of defenders with the addition of California across four competitions will enable them to be able to rest at the likes of Saliba and Gabrielle, which I think will keep them at their optimum over the course of the year.

And I genuinely feel that this is the, I said the word feel death, and I genuinely think that because of the Arsenal team, the Manchester City team, this is on the proviso, no additions come in, that Arsenal have more than enough now to get the 90 points, which I think will

secure the title.

So I think they can.

I think they will win the title this season.

That to me sounds like the old Tyson saw, everyone has a plan till they get a smack in the mouth, or everyone has a plan till they draw at home with Fulham or lose against West Ham at Christmas for no no reason.

I don't think Arsenal have enough, a deep enough squad.

I'm not sure where all these goals Jordan's talking about are going to come from.

I've gone from Rice sceptic to Rice Convert to total Rice sceptic in the space of 10 months.

I'm not going to say I think he's

terrible, but

just

what I've seen from him in key games for Arsenal and for England, not up to the job, not nowhere near the player he's made out to be.

I do think

Arsenal have quite a tough opening to the season.

The games, you said, Wolves home, okay, they should win that.

Villa away, Brighton at home, Spurs away, Man City away.

I think they could be out of the title race before the title race even gets started.

Wow.

I tend more towards Barry's line, I think.

I think, yeah, great California gives him depth at the back.

the problem more there was the depth up front that Yosaka played you know 942 games last season as he had done each of the previous two seasons you've got to give him a break and they haven't brought in anybody to do that you look at people like Rhys Nelson Eddie and Ketti they're not they're not at the required level and they're not even kids anymore where you can say you know they may develop in in in any normal football landscape so any footballing landscape up to the last 10 years, this would be a brilliant team.

It still is a brilliant team, but they don't quite have that ruthlessness.

That there's spells in games when they're totally on top.

You saw it against Bayern, you saw it.

Yeah, they took the lead against in that game away at Fulham.

Look completely in control.

And they have these little moments of relaxation where they don't quite take advantage.

And normally, that would be fine.

It wouldn't be a problem.

You see them as a great team.

But against this city, where you need to be getting an excess of 90 points.

I think they just don't quite have enough.

And that pressure is incredible.

And it's astonishing they've kept so close for the last two seasons.

But without a more reliable goal score, without greater depth up front,

I mean, look, they're the most likely team if something goes weird with City or if they do get ducked 40 points or 10 points, even.

But I think

in a straight race of City, I just don't see that they've got it.

After that last three minutes, Jordan, do you now feel like come do well to finish 15th?

Put me in my box there.

Just briefly to come back on that, because I know we've got to keep it moving.

I think the point that Jonathan makes there about the lack of depth up front is definitely valid and it's definitely a concern.

It looks to me that Mikel Arteta has decided to go the other way and double down on defense.

If we can't outscore everybody, we're going to just keep clean sheets.

We're going to try and win the league by just being the best defensive team, which they were last year.

And it feels like he's trying to take the approach of, we're just going to be the team that you can't get a shot against.

And if we can't outscore you, we're going to definitely keep more clean sheets than you.

So I think the upfront question is definitely a concern.

I just feel defensively that may be where they end up winning the title.

Wilson, do you share Barry's thoughts on Declan Rice and also on

who is next to him?

I mean, I think that's the issue is who is next to him.

I think if he's got a Jorginho figure next to him, he remains an excellent player.

But when you ask him to do

the holding job,

he's very good, but he's not great.

And I guess the question is, Jorginho now in his 30s, how often can he play?

Rice won't have to play that defensively that often.

You can rotate that.

Jorginho plays in the bigger games.

That is possible.

That's where he's been found out for England recently.

That I don't think

he's a natural at that sitting role.

I think you don't get everything out of him by confining him to that sitting role.

I think his stamina, his energy is one of the things he does very well, those forward runs, those forward surges.

But how you sort of contain that in tactical system, unless you have a player like Jorginho, I think, is very difficult.

Daft, isn't it, Baz to say, to ask if there's pressure on Arteta?

You know, he's been so close.

People will say, well, he has to win the title this year, or that's it.

But I sort of sense he's done such a brilliant job there.

And it is obviously very hard to win a title, especially when this city team exists.

That there shouldn't be pressure on it.

I suppose it depends on your definition of pressure.

Arsenal fans all adore him.

I think he's doing a quite a good job.

But, you know, then I read that story about him hiring a team of street urchins to pick his players' pockets during dinner.

I go, he's just weird.

But you know, whatever works or doesn't work.

I read that story and all I was thinking was, if Fagan were alive today, what an easier job he'd have.

Just hiring himself out to corporates rather than actually having to rob people.

Anyway, where do we have them on finishing?

Where do we have Arsenal finishing, Baz?

I have them third.

Wilson?

Second.

Jordan?

First.

I have them second.

Before we move on then, interesting, interesting facts, if you will, Wilson.

Well, I was going to use this in the main preview, but I've kept it back.

So Arsenal are already the first team in Premier League history to improve their points tally four seasons in a row.

If they had to do it a fifth in a row, they would get over 90 points.

And as Jordan says, that probably would be enough to...

to win the title.

Thank you, Wilson.

An excellent, interesting fact.

And it transpires that no one else has bought bought any interesting facts.

And so I'll just come to you, Wilson, for historical facts.

Although it's not their fault, I should say for the record.

Let's go to Aston Villa then.

Amadou and Anana's in from Everton, Ian Mattson after that good season at Dortmund.

Cameron Archer from Sheffield United.

Jaden Philogene from Hull.

Lewis Dobbin, Ross Barkley as well.

Musa Diab and Douglas Louise have both gone.

So that's quite significant.

sales.

They begin at West Ham, then home to Arsenal, away to Leicester, home to Everton, and away to Wolves.

Obviously came fourth last year.

Jay says, assuming Jordan Jarrett Bryan hasn't got Villa 20th, why not?

And Jab says, with Louise and Diarby gone and Camera injured, is Villa starting 11 weaker this year?

Wilson, what do you feel about Villa?

I mean, I think that amount of change is not ideal.

I think Douglas Luis has been great for them.

And, yeah, Amadou and Ana coming in, he is a good player.

He's the same position.

He'll have to do well to replicate the role that Douglas Ruiz played.

Mr.

Jabby, I guess by the end of the season, he doesn't feel such a big loss, but he was really good the first half of last season.

So I think,

was it nine in eight out?

I think it probably has made them stronger, but I think it's probably not a helpful amount of turmoil.

I think the competition below the sort of top three, I'm sort of including Liverpool in that with a slight question mark, is going to be pretty intense.

So the fact they've got Champions League football, the fact they're not used to it, we saw how that had an impact on Newcastle last season.

Villa are going to have two extra games because of the new format.

I think that's difficult for them.

I'm not sure that the coping with the Champions League will be that much of an issue, just purely because Unai Emery is a master at dealing with Europe.

Villa seem to have got all their transfer business or most of it done early,

which is

generally the sign of a very well-run club.

This is who we want.

Let's go and get them.

We've got them right crack on with the preseason and whatnot.

I have a lot of faith in Ugamai Emery.

Ollie Watkins got 19 goals last season.

That was up from 15 the season before and 11 the season before that.

I just think he's a terrific player, a real

cold-eyed killer of a finisher.

He was also chief chief among the assist merchants in the Premier League last season.

And yeah, I think Villa will do well next season.

I think they'll do well in the Champions League and I think they'll be okay in the league.

Jordan?

I mean, the interesting thing about Emery is he improves players.

I mean, I know we've said this before.

It feels like most managers should try and do that at least, but he has a real track record of doing that.

I think Nuno Emery is the best thing about that football club.

And that's saying something because there's a lot of good things about Aston Villa this season.

There's been no noise, there's been no negativity, they've just gone about their preseason

under the radar.

And I think that they're going to have a really good season.

I think, like Barry, I think the Champions League actually is something that Uno Emre will embrace.

And I think they may surprise a few people in that.

In terms of the domestic season, I think they've got one of the most rounded squads in the league.

They've got a top goalkeeper, they've got a top goal scorer up top, they've got really good midfielders that bring different qualities to that team.

And a defense that let's not forget last year at Villa Park, they went on some crazy, some crazy run at home where they were very, very difficult to take points from Villa Park.

So I think Villa are going to have a really, really good season this year.

It might surprise a few people who I think are expecting Villa to have that kind of second season syndrome and slightly tail off.

I don't think that's going to happen at all.

My only concern for Villa would be that it doesn't take long to raise the expectations of football fans.

And

I think what

had Villa fans pleasantly surprised last season, they will now expect this as the bare minimum.

And that could be an issue.

But I do think they will kick on and possibly do better than last season.

I do agree with Jonathan though, that I think Douglas Louise leaving is going to be a big blow.

He was, up until the new year, my player of the year.

I thought he had a brilliant first half of the season, and I think that will be a big loss.

I'm not sure the DRB one will be as big as big a loss, but I think they've got enough to do at least what they did last year, if not better.

Yeah, I mean, it is when you sort of go from third to eighth, it's a bit of a coin toss, I reckon, Wilson.

I don't know where you have Aston Villa finishing, or I don't know if you have an interesting fact, you're the only person I can go to for these.

Okay,

well, I think it's a bit trivial.

People often get wrong.

So

who do you think was the first player to miss a penalty in the NFL final?

Today.

Who am I meant to...

What's the QI Claxon?

Oh, John Aldridge?

Yeah.

He was the first player to miss a penalty in a Wembley Cup final, whereas Charlie Wallace missed one against London in 1913, but Villa won the game anyway, 1-0.

That's a good fact.

Where have you got them finishing, Wilson?

Eighth.

Eighth.

Yeah, but I mean, they could be fourth.

It's not going to be much in it.

Yeah.

Barry?

Fourth.

Jordan?

Second.

Second?

Yeah.

Wowzers.

Yeah.

So hang on, you've got Arsenal first and Villa second.

Wow.

I mean, I know we're not doing Manchester City in this, but we'll, you know, we'll get your hot take on that later.

I have them fifth to Bournemouth then.

They brought in Louis Sinistera from Leeds.

Ennis Unar comes in permanently.

Dean Heysen from Juventus.

Obviously, the big loss is Dominic Solanke to Tottenham.

They go to Forest on the opening day, then home to Newcastle, away to Everton, home to Chelsea, away to Liverpool.

12th last season.

That's a tricky start, actually, Barry, for them, isn't it?

I don't know.

I had a brilliant debut season after a terrible start.

I presume just repeating that would be quite impressive.

Yeah, I would imagine so.

A lot of people thought Gary O'Neill was hard done by

Ireola came in, had the terrible start, and then,

well, I think, did he win one of his first nine or ten games or something?

Anyway, turned things around.

It was a solid mid-table finish in the end.

And I suspect it'll be more of the same.

The question is,

how do you replace the 19 goals Dominic Solanke brought to the party last season?

He's gone.

That's going to be a problem.

At the moment, I'm not sure who will be playing up front for them, but they have some terrific players.

Senesi and Zabarni in the heart of defense are really good.

I think Lewis Cook is a brilliant midfielder.

I think he probably should have been in the England squad.

Would have been one of those players looking on from the bench.

We haven't seen a huge amount of Alex Scott.

Tyler Adams, I think he's still there.

He signed for them.

I'm not sure he's played yet.

He's got the weirdest hamstrings on the planet.

Yeah, I suspect they'll be be absolutely fine.

I think they have an issue with their goalkeeper.

I'm not sure Netto is brilliant.

I think they could do a decent goalkeeper, but a very nit knit.

This is nitpickery of the highest order.

I suspect Bournemouth will be absolutely fine.

They won't be troubling the European places.

They won't be troubling the relegation spots somewhere mid-table.

Do you have any nitpicking to do, Wilson, when it comes to Bournemouth?

No, not particularly.

I mean, Slanky obviously is a huge loss.

I think that poor start they had last season, I know I said this last season, but I think they played fine during it.

We just had a really odd...

The way they fixed this was arranged, they played all their hard games, then their easier games, then their hard games, then their easier games.

And as a result, it looked like the form went up and down.

I think their form remained pretty consistent all season.

I think they were fine.

I think Lloyd Kelly will be a miss as well.

He's gone to Newcastle.

But yeah, it's the goals of Solanke that think of the big problem.

Albeit they have Clivet and whatever and Sinistera.

They've got plenty of attacking players, but they don't have that centre-forward.

Rumours of Enketia, and that might be a good idea, Jordan.

But how do you see Bournemouth?

Is it all dependent on if they bring in a striker?

Well, I think if they don't bring a striker, I think they'll finish comfortably mid-table, as Barry said.

But I do think they are a striker and a goalkeeper away from challenging for a European sport.

They were really good last year, and it just so happens that at Arsenal, there's a striker they're trying to get rid of and a goalkeeper that I think dropped those into the Bournemouth team could be the difference between a 12th and a ninth.

Do you know what I mean?

So

I like the set of infielders they've got in there, some good ball players and some good ball winners.

But I just think at either end, they're a little bit meh, and that could be the difference between finishing 12th and say 15th.

And it's there a question about Areola, Barry.

I mean, whenever you do this and then you look at the end of the season, you go, hang on, who's gone where?

They're there.

You know, there's every chance of Areola Chelsea by January and then somewhere else in April, isn't there?

Yeah, well, look, we do these previews and they're quite fun,

but we're making the predictions on the information we have now, you know, today, this morning.

You can't factor in points, deductions as much as you'd like to.

You know, do Man City finish first or do they finish 20th?

We don't know.

You can't factor in managerial changes.

You can't factor in injury crisis.

We're just working with the information we have at the moment, now, right now, today.

And then

towards the end of the season, or even tomorrow,

we'll have all these prophets of the past going, oh, Arsenal third.

Oh,

why do you hate Arsenal so much?

Don't care.

Code out totally indifferent to Arsenal.

Think Michel Erte is a bit weird.

That's all.

You know, they're fine.

Grand.

Good luck to them.

This is how we work, Max.

Yeah, are you suggesting this experiment is pointless?

Yeah, I think I am.

Okay, okay, good.

Where do you have Bournemouth finishing?

Oh, 12th.

12th.

Jonathan?

14th.

Jordan?

12th.

I have them 16th, and that'll do for part one.

Facts?

Do you want a fact about Bournemouth?

Oh, yes, please.

There is a character, I don't know who it is, but there's a character in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone who's seen reading a match report that features Bournemouth.

Do you know the op-oh?

Nope.

Is it Slytherin?

It's a goalless draw at Dean Court between Slytherin and Bournemouth.

Look, I googled this three minutes ago.

I've never read Harry Potter.

I don't know anything about this.

It might not even be true, but it is on the internet.

All right, we'll be back.

In part two, we're beginning with Brentford.

Hi, Pod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here, too.

Hello.

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Remarkable, a brand name and an adjective, man.

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A proper football journalist, mate.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

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Play is everything.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Brentford then bought in Igor Thiago from Club Bruges.

Subsequently, got injured until the end of the year.

Fabio Carvalho is in from Liverpool.

They haven't sold anybody.

And that is interesting because that means they haven't sold Ivan Toney.

They are home to Palace on the opening day, away to Liverpool, home to Southampton, away to City, away to Spur.

Came 16th last season.

Are you surprised, Jordan, that Ivan Toney hasn't moved on?

And do you think Tiago's injury means they might just try and keep hold of him?

I think they will try and keep hold of him.

I think he will stay.

I think he'll probably see out the last year of his contract

and go on a free next year.

It is a little bit odd that, you know, an Arsenal or a Chelsea

Spurs didn't go in for him.

But I think

they've made their peace that he'll see out his final year and move on a free.

I'm concerned for Brentford.

I think we genuinely forget how small a club teams like Brentford and Brighton are.

I think Brentford done a phenomenal job in finishing where they've finished in the last couple of seasons.

I think this is the year they could be in big trouble.

I like Brian Mbuomo.

I'm surprised also no one's had a look at him as well.

I think that he could play for a club significantly bigger than Brentford and he's never linked to anybody.

He would have been a good backup for Saka at my club, in my view.

But yeah, I look for their squads and there's some good players there, but I just feel you can only punch above your weight for so long before the tide goes against you.

And I have concerns about where they will finish this season.

I mean, there is that cliche, Barry, that you know, you get comfortable, then a bad season comes around.

But you sense that Brentford, and you know, Jordan mentioned Brighton as well, who we'll get to in a second.

You know, they're both so inverted, was well-run that that probably won't happen.

I would kind of be concerned about Brentford as well,

but

the one thing I would say: last season they had an absolute horrific run of injuries.

And then there was the Ivan Tony suspension.

And Johann Wissa, I think, was at AFCON for a month or five weeks or whatever.

And they managed to get past that.

So like Rico Henry is back now,

who I think, if he hadn't been injured last season, would definitely be in the England team, if not squad.

My worry for them would be that I think their first four away games are Liverpool, Man City, Spurs, and Man United.

They could get no points from those

and be on the back foot from the get-go.

Yeah, I just think if they stayed up last season with the amount of injuries and unavailable, people unavailable for one reason or another,

I think they will probably be okay this season.

Yeah, I mean, they might sort of accidentally end up with a better squad than they want, if you see what I mean.

They brought in Ego Thiago, presumably because they think Tony's going to leave.

Now, it turns out Thiago's not going to be available till the new year.

But say they have both of them all season, that's a lot of depth in the striking areas.

I mean, given that they did fine last season without either of them and with, as Barry says, Buemo and Wissa being missing for long periods.

So I think if they get through that first sort of couple of months and they're okay, that they're not adrift at the bottom then they they they should be fine i think calvalio is a really good addition to the midfield just gives them a bit you know it's somebody who gives them quality but also a little bit of aggression energy there so i think the tony situation they need to resolve it one way or another so they know what's happening and i think maybe 60 million which is supposedly what they want for a 28-year-old gun last year's contract maybe they're going to have to row back on that slightly but

I think the squad looks looks pretty healthy.

Sure.

Do you think that they would rather get rid of him?

I mean, it just seems like a club that would take the money, right?

Yeah, I know.

I think they...

I don't say they need to get rid of him, but I think their plan is probably to get rid of him.

I mean, I don't know how soon PSR would start to kick in.

But yeah, I think they've certainly factored in the probable loss of him.

I mean, there's no need to have in the squad Wisdom and Buomo, Igor Tiago, and Tony.

Tony's clearly...

Tony's talked fairly openly over the last three or four years about being ready to leave.

So yeah, I think they expect him to go.

It's just working out where he's going and what fee they're going to get.

And obviously, they want rid of him now rather than waiting till next summer and essentially getting nothing for him.

It does seem quite telling that there seems to be little or no interest whatsoever in Ivan Dormy.

I just think it's at 60 million price tags.

It's a lot.

I mean, he's good, but he's 28.

You're going to get three years out of him where you can sort of guarantee he'll be at his peak.

60 million is a load of money when a lot of clubs are feeling the PSL pinch.

Would you not say he's sort of like him and Solanke are equivalent, or do you think Solanke is...

it's just Solanky's younger?

I mean, he made the England squad and Solanke didn't, yeah, but only two years, unless it makes sense.

Yeah, I mean, yeah, when you put it like only two years different, but I guess I think there's probably the knowledge that he's going to be available for free next summer as well.

Why spend 60 million now?

Is it worth spending 60 million to get him for one year extra?

Or do you just wait, save some of that 60 million to up his wages and get him next summer?

Or potentially get him for, I don't know, 15 million in January when Brentford are desperate to sell.

Bush, you could argue, though, that some of the teams who probably need a a striker and could afford 60 million need a striker this year.

So I'm thinking of like United, I'm thinking of Arsenal, Spurs always just go and bought Solanke.

So I think United and Arsenal need a finisher this year and waiting another year and Arsenal finished second or third, that's not a good look for them.

United finished seventh or six, not a good look for them.

So I hear what you're saying.

Economically, it may make sense to wait.

But I just wonder if those teams that are in that bracket of spending 60 mil, if they can afford to wait another year?

I think United have real issues with spending.

I think PSR is looming.

They obviously have enormous revenues compared to the vast majority of clubs.

But the fact that

it would seem to be a case they needed to get rid of Wan-Bissaka before they brought in Merzier.

I think

they're very conscious of overspending in the past.

Arsenal, yeah.

I mean,

they probably do have the wriggle room to get him if they want him.

But again,

is it worth spending 60 million now?

And you could maybe get 40, 45 million off, get him in January.

How many points is that really going to be worth?

Where do we have Brentford finishing Barry?

14th.

Jonathan?

16th.

Jordan?

18th.

Wow.

12th for me.

John, a fact, or are we giving up on that?

Yes.

Yeah, no, I want a fact.

Sorry.

So

Brentford was the first club that Charles Reap, the notorious longball.

Dirty longball man.

Brentford was the first club that he worked with in 1950 to 51.

He was involved by the manager Jackie Gibbons for 17 games at the end of the season, of which they lost only four and they scored in every one.

That's how football should be played.

Brighton then brought in Jankuba Minter from Newcastle, Matt Svifer from Fire Nord, Ibrahim Osman from Nordshaland, Dennis Undav has gone to Stuttgart, Pascal Gross has gone to Brussels-Dortmund.

They go to Everton on the opening day, then home to Manchester United, away to Arsenal, home to Ipswich, home to Forrest came 11th last year.

Matthew says, with all these teams getting or just avoiding PSR points deductions, should Brighton be awarded points?

Yeah, good accounting gives you a head start.

What are your feelings about Brighton?

Obviously, their manager is the most interesting part, Barry, isn't it?

Fabian Herzler, 31-year-old.

Yeah,

he will be 31.

You're obliged to mention the fact he's 31 until the 26th of February, at which point he will become 32.

I've already checked Max when he was born.

It was

No Limit by 2 Unlimited was number one.

Stop it.

Yeah.

Oh my God.

And he's a manager.

Dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum.

Yeah, Anita Doss and Ray, the Dutch fella.

Anyway, I watched an interview he did with a friend of the show, Paul Hayward, and

who's Glenn Murray.

I think they do the Brighton In-House pod.

And I was hugely impressed with Mr.

Fabian Herzler.

He just seemed like a really nice fella.

Again, he's ridiculously young.

He

came through at

what's the hipster club in Hamburg?

St.

Pauli.

St.

Pauli.

And he did make the comparison, you know.

Hamburg, Brighton, quite similar, both sort of ports, both seaside towns, towns, both

hipsterish and trendy, and very open-minded, liberal, blah, blah, blah.

I think he will be a perfect fit for Brighton.

They don't get many appointments wrong.

They've brought in a load of players.

I'm not going to lie.

I've never heard of any of them.

But they don't sign too many duds either.

They've no European football to worry about.

Kylo Matoma is back after missing the last three or four months of last season with injury.

He's a brilliant player.

They kind of based their summer tour around him, who's going to Japan, and he was the VIP star man.

My only question about Brighton is wither Evan Ferguson.

I mean, a year ago or less, everyone was, oh, Evan Ferguson, Republic of Ireland striker.

If anyone wants him, he'll...

you'll have to pay 100, 120, 150 million quid.

He's been completely forgotten about.

I don't think he'll get within an ass's roar of their first team at the moment, but we shall see.

Do you know anything about the signings, Jonathan?

Well, Matt's Weaver,

he cost £25 million at some point.

I think he's sort of the Pascal Gross replacement, isn't he?

In midfield?

Okay.

No, to be honest.

But it's very bright, isn't it?

And the odd thing is, the thing with Brighton is the signings, you tend not to see them for two or three years.

They disappear, and then suddenly they come off a bench against Chelsea or something and look brilliant.

Do you know much about their manager either?

I mean, only that he exactly what Barry said, that he's come from St.

Pauli, that he's very young.

I mean,

I think the interesting thing is why they had that downturn in the second half of last season.

And I think probably it's a combination of Matoma being out and Deserby sort of losing a bit of love for the job.

I think Deserbi's touchline antics maybe weren't particularly helpful.

I think the obvious friction between him and the board.

I mean, that was one of those departures where I sort of, in my head, I'd already sort of thought, oh, he's, well, he'd leave at the end of the season.

I think Barry had been saying that as well.

And then it's announced, and suddenly, everybody's, oh, I can't believe it.

Deserve's, what do you mean he can't believe it?

This has been obvious since like February he was going.

Actually, by the time he left, I thought he'd already gone.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And suddenly I've been asked to write about it.

I was like, hang on, didn't this happen like a month ago?

But anyway, the question is,

what level are they at?

Is it that Deserbi had them slightly overperforming and that sort of drift towards the end of the season took them back towards the mean, or was that drift actually drift from a higher position where they should have been?

And I think that's very hard to judge till the season starts.

Because I sort of hope they're really exciting and really good again, and that they're like they were the first

three months of last season and

the season before.

And I hope they're sort of challenging for

Europe League football.

I sort of think realistically, just just the the financial golf means they'll be near a middle, mid-table.

Um,

but if if any team can defy budgets, it probably is them.

Any strong thoughts, Jordan?

Uh, just just one, just going through their squads uh last night, it just struck me there's a list of some players that I all think have a really high ceiling that hasn't been reached yet.

I've just got like Lampty, I think there's still a lot to come from him.

I like uh Van Heck, um, from what I saw of him.

Um, who else there's three more here?

Matoma, I think, can go up a couple more levels.

Who else?

Who else?

Adingra.

And as Barry mentioned, Ferguson has gone cold, but they've got a few players in there that I think if they can get 10, 20% more out of, I think could really take Brian 2 to a high level.

And they can get a lot more out of them.

To be fair, I do think Evan Ferguson...

Anytime I saw pictures of him towards the second half of last season, he had a big plastic boot on.

so uh you know that does affect your game it does yeah i i couldn't play in one of those

give us a fact wilson i think brighton are the most recent team to be mentioned on doctor who

right okay i'm real real doctor who

well people who ever watch doctor who which i confess i haven't done since about 1983 may well know better but is it sylvester mccoy complaining about the width deep yeah they wouldn't be the type who'd who'd get upset about about you getting something wrong.

I think it was the Matt Smith doctor who did it.

Where are they finishing, Barry?

I have them seventh.

Seventh?

Wilson?

Eleventh.

Jordan?

13th.

15th for me.

Wait, okay.

This is when why do we all go for an even number for Brentford and all go for an odd number for Brighton?

What is it about those clubs that make them odd or even numbers?

That's a good question.

To Chelsea.

Pedro Neto, Kieran and Jewsby Hall, Philip Jorgensen, Amari Kellyman, Aaron Anselmino, Renarto Vega, Callum Wiley.

I think that's all the inns.

I've probably missed five or six.

Ian Mattson's gone to Lewis Hall, Amari Hutchinson.

Although Mattson and Hutchinson weren't really there last year anyway, they are home to Man City opening game.

Go to Wolves, home to Palace, away to Bournemouth, away to West Ham.

Gareth says, will Chelsea be a complete disaster or just a minor disaster this season?

Almost impossible.

to predict.

Sean says, rank your top 50 current Chelsea players who will shine

both out on loan or at the club this season.

Wilson's very hard to know, isn't it?

I mean

the whole experiment, I was sort of prepared to say maybe we've been a bit harsh on it.

Maybe it's just a long-term project and you know we're always critical of people who demand results immediately.

But I think probably wanted a bit of consolidation by now rather than another £160 million spent and another 10 players put in.

And it doesn't matter what the, I mean, what plan is it that has eight goalkeepers?

Bring in Pedro Neto.

I think he's a really good player when fit, but the fitness is a concern.

And Chelsea, you've got a lot of players who have injury issues.

I mean, Rhys James, Ben Chill missed huge chunks of last season because of injury.

Christopher Nkunku, Chelsea didn't really see last season because of injury.

So they've got a lot of players

with slightly dodgy injury records.

They've added another one and they've added him in a position where they already seem to have, I mean, that's every position, they've seemed to have about 100 players.

But where they've got Mudrick and Madowake and potentially Cole Palmer and Rahim Sterling, I just think if you're a player who's somehow managed to survive there for two or three years, it must be incredibly dispiriting.

Just sort of thinking, you know, you see the squad start to sort of sort itself out, you see some sort of picture start to crystallize.

You think, oh, yeah, okay, I can see what's happening here.

That, you know, I've got my place.

And oh no, they just sign another dozen players and it's all up in the air again.

So, yeah, they

played difficult teams in preseason.

What I'm about to say should be caveat with that.

They play the champions of

England, Scotland, Spain, Italy, Mexico, plus Wrexham.

Who probably are the best Welsh team, I guess.

Oh, no, Swansea and Cardivar.

Sorry, ignore that.

I saw Cardiff on Saturday.

The Wrexham are definitely better than them.

Well, Swansea were pretty bad as well against Middlesex, weren't they?

That's true.

Maybe Wrexham are the best Welsh team.

Anyway,

but yeah, five of the six were champions of their country, but they only won one of those five, which is against the Mexican champions Club America.

And I think they've had quite a bad start to the Mexican season.

I think they're ninth at the minute.

Pre-season is about preparation, obviously.

It doesn't matter what results you get, as long as there's a sort of plan being put in place.

I think you look at the City game where they lost 4-2.

They were 2-0 downside, 4 minutes.

One of them was a pretty iffy penalty.

One of them a bad back pass, which can happen until the end of the flow of the game.

One of the other games was a terrible bobble.

So, you know,

they weren't necessarily 4-2 worse than City.

But not getting results, letting in goals, this sense of chaos

it's so hard to work out

what the system's going to be.

The money probably will sustain them in the top half.

Yeah, Mareska is a risk because

he did perfectly well at Leicester last season.

I think some Leicester fans weren't particularly happy with the style of play.

But

this is what revolution looks like.

I'm quite happy with the status quo.

I mean,

the funny thing is, they were really good towards the end of last season and getting rid of pochettino has just seems just seemed like that was the wrong thing to do and the thing is they could be brilliant right you know they you you will see their starting lineup against city go

that's a good team

you say that i mean it's a shit show and i'm here for it but you say that max but people focus on the the number of players that chelsea have got and it's just ridiculous and it's just i just don't know why you would have a squad that big but if you look at the quality of the players i'm not even sure that the players that are there are that good i mean just to name off a few that i'm still not convinced about, Madowake, meh, Nicholas Jackson, meh,

who else they got here?

Chukwamenau is okay.

The right back.

Gusto is decent.

Chilwan, Rhys James, can't stay fit.

Badashil, meh, Kucarela, don't rate.

Dezasi, meh.

People say they could get it right.

And on paper, their team looks good.

I just don't agree.

I think there's a lot of average players in there that are young and could get better.

The only certified players in in that squad that I think look like, okay, they're players I put my hat on.

Cole Palmer.

We know what Sterling can do, but even his season wasn't particularly good.

And Kaicedo, I do think the Toss and Ada Robayo signing on a free is a good bit of business, but do you need another defender?

I also think the Enzo Fernandez situation is a ticking time bomb amongst the players waiting to just explode.

And I would expect the Chelsea fans this season to not let that go off the radar and really hold them accountable and their club accountable um for that i don't like how that's been swept under the carpet in any way um and that's not me being tribal if that was my football team i'd be doing the exact same thing i i hate how that was handled and the third thing is lukaku because as far as i'm aware he's still a chelsea player and they they're not having him at chelsea at all so whether they can get rid of him or not how they deal with that situation i think is going to be going to be interesting as well it's interesting it's almost barry worth chelsea winning the league and all those players that Jordan went meh to playing well, that somebody makes some kind of meme to Jordan just going through a squad and actually they all turn out to be in the players' team of the year.

But how do you see it?

I don't have a huge amount to add, to be honest.

I think the Enzo Fernandez

thing is big.

That's a big grenade to be thrown into the middle of an already disjointed squad.

And I don't think we've heard the last of that yet.

They handled it very badly, but they handled it about as well as I expected them to.

I think if you look at that squad, there are some brilliant players in there.

But when Jordan was going through them one by one, going, meh, meh, meh, I was finding it hard to disagree with him.

Well, I do envy Enzo Maresco, because he's probably on an eleven-year contract.

And when he gets fired, which he will, he'll be very handsomely recompensed.

But I think if I was the manager of that team, I'd just wanted to have a cull of the squad, get rid of about 12 players.

Just right, give me 23 here that I can work with.

And, you know, I'll have my eight goalkeepers and

15 outfield players, please.

And yeah, I'll just let me work with them.

And everyone else can bugger off down to the under 23 pitch or whatever.

I have no idea how they're going to finish.

I think it'll be a fun watch.

Have you got a fact, Wilson?

Yes, Chelsea's first ever signing came in 1905, the first of about 8 million, 7.5 million in the last three years.

Was it an attacking midfielder, an attacking wide midfielder?

It was a midfielder, John Tate Robertson, who they brought in from Rangers to be player manager.

He then bought a team because Chelsea had

the owner of Samford Bridge, Gus Mears, he thought that Fulham would come and play there, and when they refused, he had to do something to get people to come into the stadium.

He was then sacked for alcoholism.

He was caught one night going through the offices of Chelsea, broken in, and sort of drummed out the country.

And he went to Budapest and managed MT Carr in 1911 before

they kicked him out of there as well for alcoholism.

So he was a

big, a big factor in the introduction of a Scottish passing game to Hungarian football.

Where have have we got Chelsea finishing?

Barry?

Sixth.

Wilson?

Seventh.

Jordan?

Ninth.

I've got sixth.

Right, that'll do for part two.

Crystal Palace, begin part three.

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Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

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Coach, the energy out there felt different.

What changed for the team today?

It was the new game Day Scratchers from the California Lottery.

Play is everything.

Those games sent the team's energy through the roof.

Are you saying it was the off-field play that made the difference on the field?

Hey, a little play makes your day, and today it made the game.

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Coach, one more question.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly Crystal Palace.

Then, a boy in Ishmaelisar,

Chaddy Riyadh from Barcelona, Dikey Camada from Lazio, Michael Elise's gone to Bayern.

The window isn't closed yet, which is pretty key for them.

Mark Gay looks like he might be on his way.

They go to Brentford, then home to West Ham, away to Chelsea, home to Leicester, home to Manchester United, finished 10th last year.

Barry Glasner had them playing brilliantly, and it seems to be all about can they keep the rest of their stars, right?

Yeah, they were superb last season when he took over they won six of the last seven games they battered manchester united they battered aston villa uh they beat liverpool at an field we all enjoyed watching them play michael lease says gone obviously that's a loss mark gay

may leave i think if he does go

i think Palace fines are kind of resigned to losing him and they're not that upset about it.

Chris Richards will be more than able deputy

or more than able bloke to come in and fill that void.

Their

co-owner slash stakeholder John Texter apparently wants to sell up and buy Everton instead.

That may or may not happen.

I'm not sure how much of a difference.

I would imagine Crystal Palace would be a really good investment for anyone who wanted to get involved in the football club.

They're

finally working on that stand beside the Sainsbury or the Tesco or whatever it is.

The supermarket is in the car park.

I think Crystal Palace fans are very optimistic going into this season.

I think they have every right to be.

And yeah, it just remains to be seen,

you know, will they hold on to Eze?

Will they hold on to Gehee?

What, you know, will they get anyone else in?

And it is, sorry, the post-James Tonkins era.

Okay.

So, you know, how will they they cope without James Tompkins?

Well, thank you for bringing that to our attention.

Jordan, and Matata, like, scored a lot of goals for them, had a good Olympics as well.

I sort of share Barry's thoughts.

There's lots of reasons to be positive about Palace.

Yeah, Mateta had a really good second half to the season.

I think Palace.

Okay, maybe not then.

And I do think that they're the most kind of vibes team in the Premier League.

And I think Mateta was a big part of that.

Let's see if he can start the season

as well as he finished it.

and i'm i'm i've i've got doubts about that but i do like the look of him and hopefully they're my local team well where i grew up my local team so i hope they do do well my only kind of comment on crystal palace is i don't think there's a club in the premier league that as that are that are as reliant on keeping one player as they are i think if mark gahey leaves which is looking like he probably will

I think they could really, really struggle this year.

The manager's good.

He's had a really good season last year when he came in.

I think starting a season is very different to kind of coming in and picking something up so um i'm not as optimistic about palace if they were to lose gay as i think a lot of people are if they can keep eze as well that's big but i think gay is the big one they can keep him i think they could be it could be a good year for them wilson your thoughts and a fact if you would be so kind uh i think they've they've done as much as they can to mitigate the potential damage of losing elise and eze and gay that the tsar kamada and riyad they they do play in their positions and glass worked with Kamada before at Antrac Frankfurt.

I thought his Antrac Frankfurt side was really good.

I think he's a really good manager.

I just hope that losing players doesn't derail them because they were so good at the end of last season.

And my fact is two weeks before the 1962 European Cup final in which Benfica beat Real Madrid, Real Madrid's idea of how to warm up for that game was to play against Third Division Crystal Palace in front of 24,000 on a wet night at Celes Park.

And they won, but only 4-3.

Thank you.

I have them ninth, Barry.

You?

9th.

Jonathan?

10th.

Jordan?

11th.

All right.

That's the closest grouping we've had, perhaps.

Let's go to Everton then.

I mean, who knows?

They brought in Jake O'Brien from Leon Illerman and Dye from Marseille and Tim Ingrebunen from Aston Villa.

Inanna's gone.

Ben Godfrey's gone.

Lewis Dobbin's gone.

They're home to Brighton, away to Spurs.

Home to Bournemouth, away to Villa, away to Leicester.

I mean, there's all sorts of things happening off the pitch, Barry.

On the pitch, Sean Dice actually did a really good job, didn't he, last year?

They would have finished 12th if they hadn't had that deduction.

Yeah, they stayed up with three games to spare,

despite being docked eight points, which is a remarkable job by Sean Dice.

I think they're a team that's been circling the drain for quite some time now.

We've we've heard about their financial the precariousness of their financial position, that they they there's a very good chance they could go into administration they could

uh possibly get another points deduction we're not sure so it's difficult to to predict anything i i would imagine just

going on the strength of their squad and uh sean dice and wony in charge i i would imagine they'll be fine but there is this outside stuff but they dealt with it more than comfortably last season.

Dominic Alvert loons in the final year of his contract.

I'm very much out on him.

He seems like a lovely fellow, but he can't stay fit.

And even when he is fit, he doesn't score very often.

He's a bit streaky.

I reckon they'll be all right.

It's also what it's their last season at Goodison.

So after 130-odd years, so that's going to be you know to be a lot of.

I don't know if you know, Max, but West Ham left their stadium a few years ago.

They did, yeah.

And there was, there was, it was barely mentioned at all.

And I suspect it'll be the same with Goodison Park this season.

No one will reference the fact that Everton are about to leave this quite famous historic ground that is a total dump,

but it's their dump and they love it.

I would say they will be absolutely fine, but we don't know.

They could be docked a lot of points.

Sad for another great old ground to go, though.

I mean, I don't want to start the, you know, talking about it that will go on, but you know, a ground in the middle of streets.

I do like that.

Do you share those, echo those thoughts, Wilson?

Yeah, I mean, they would have been 12th last season had it not been for the eight points deducted.

And without spoiling a surprise, I think that's pretty much where they'll be this season.

Please, I mean, that is a spoiler alert of all the spoiler alerts.

Yeah, no, I am.

I am 13th, Jordan.

You

it's not a good squad, is my contribution.

I've got them 16th.

Okay.

Is that all you have to say about them?

No, I don't have any big thoughts on them.

I don't think it's a good squad.

I think they're going to struggle.

I think the Calvin Lewin factor, they need to just be planning now to move on past him.

They need to bring in somebody to score goals.

Beto is in it.

More pie, he is in it.

In midfield.

Is he back there?

Yeah.

He can't still be there.

He's gone back to Everton.

Wow.

It's bad.

It's bad.

I mean, he was good at Brentford, wasn't he?

You never never know.

He could have

been reborn, Neil Mopey.

You never know.

Give us a fact, Wilson.

When Everton won the league in 1963 under Harry Caterick, they were the last team to win the league, playing predominantly a back three until Chelsea under Antonio Conte, 53 years later.

Wow.

Okay.

Have we had all our finishing positions?

I have them 13th, same as you, Max.

Okay, 13th, 12th, 12th, 13th, I think.

Fulham have brought in Enil Smith Rowe from Arsenal, Georges Cuenca from Villarreal, and Ryan Cessignon has come in.

They obviously lost Jao Polignia in central midfield to Bayer Munich.

They begin on Friday night at Old Trafford.

Then Leicester at home, Ipswich away, West Ham at home, Newcastle at home.

Smith Rowe is the big news, Jordan, isn't he?

For Fulham?

He is, yeah.

And if they can keep him fit, they've got a very talented player on their books.

You know, a lot of Arsenal fans are still crying about him leaving.

But the fact is that Arsenal have outgrown him.

But I think Fulham's probably his level.

And I think if they can keep him fit, there's a player that can really do some damage.

I like Fulham squad.

I mean, unlike Evertons, I like

their team.

They've got a good goalkeeper and Burnt Leno.

They've got some good defenders, good solid premier league defenders, I think, can do a really good job.

My only concern is about their midfield.

Looking through the midfield, there's a lot of nice ball-playing ballers in that midfield.

Pereira, Kearney, Wilson, Cessignon, Smith Rowe.

There's not anything else.

There's not really any grit.

And I think the Paolinho loss, Lukic is

a bit of a unit and he can put himself about.

But I don't think there's much variation in their midfield options.

And if I compare that to Bournemouth, who do, I think, have a good variation of midfield players.

I think that's the one thing with Fulham.

There's going to be a lot of good goals at Craven Cottage, but there could be a few beatings as well.

And up top, just briefly as well.

concern for them as well you know a wobie triore

um and jimenez

where's Muniz?

Rodrigo Munes.

No, he's there.

He's there, to be fair.

He's there, yeah.

But they're three established forwards.

And Vinicius, to be fair, is a decent finisher as well.

But they're three kind of name forwards.

It woeby, Triore, and Jimenez.

Yeah, I wouldn't expect much from Naturio.

Barry, you said leading up to this, Fulham is the hardest team to have any thoughts about.

I just look at Fulham and

very meh.

I just find it hard to have any sort of opinion about them.

You know, Emile Smith Rowe is now on his downward journey.

He's gone from Arsenal to Fulham.

Ryan Cessignon's back after a pretty disastrous spell at Spurs, which wasn't entirely his own fault.

He had a lot of injuries.

They probably need a defensive midfielder to replace Polina.

He'll be a big loss.

They're after Scott McTominay.

I'm very much looking forward to the opening

of the Riverside Stand Sky Deck in December with its

swimming pools/slash jacuzzi and fine dining restaurant experience.

Is December the right time to open an outdoor swimming pool?

Who will be the first Sky Sports or TNT sports reporter to be pictured, you know, in the pool, arms along the side?

It's got Gary Cottrell written all over it, hasn't hasn't it it does doesn't it

wilson give us a fact fulham i think is the only club to be mentioned in an agatha christie thriller it's in the seven dials mystery that characters discuss going to a fulham game

um i've got them 11th jordan 10th wilson 13th barry 15th ipswich town then uh in the premier league um after a long old time uh keeping kieran mckenna probably the biggest winner of the summer he was linked to chelsea and manchester united amongst others Amari Hutchinson had a brilliant season with them last year, but he's signed permanently.

Jacob Greaves comes in from Hull.

Liam DeLap from Man City and Arianette Murich from Burnley.

They're home to Liverpool, away to Man City, some start.

Then Fulham at home, Brighton away, Southampton away.

What are your thoughts, Baz?

I'm quite excited about seeing how they get on.

They're very much this season's looting, aren't they?

They'll be patronised and condescended to, within an inch of their lives, going up on to the Premier League on the back of back-to-back promotions.

It will be,

I don't care how good Kieran McKenna is, it's going to be very hard to keep them up.

And I think he might do it.

They've

brought in Liam DeLap,

who

what he scored eight goals for them, I think, in 32 appearances last season.

I think they look a little light in midfield, where Sam Morrissey and Massimo Lungo

got them up last season.

I think they need someone else.

Leif Davis at left back, I think, could be an absolute Premier League star in the making.

His numbers from the championship are sensational in terms of assists.

And if he can carry that into the Premier League, he'll be a man in big demand

in January or come season's end.

Yeah, I am looking forward to seeing them.

And

there is a bit of a looting vibe about them, isn't there?

Perhaps a looting vibe, but playing slightly better football, Wilson.

I think that's probably true.

I'm very sad to see Vassar Flackley go because

when I had my shoulder surgery, one of the preliminary meetings, he was sat next to me in the waiting room.

Right.

And I didn't recognise him, but because he was a very big man, he was talking loudly to his girlfriend/slash wife or whoever

was clearly a footballer.

And I was able, by googling very tall footballers to work out who he was.

Really good.

Well, that's thank you for that preview of Ipswich's season, Wilson.

Well, no, it is, it is, it is just, you know, Killer McKenzie's done an incredible job.

This is not unlike when Ipswich were promoted under Alf Ramsey, that they shot through the divisions.

I mean, they're slightly slower then, but I think they had three seasons in the second flight then, but then they won the league their first season up.

And there's something very sad about the fact that, I mean, it was a shock back in 1962, but it's just not,

It wouldn't even be a shock this time.

It would be sort of apocalyptic.

It just couldn't.

It just can't happen.

And it's very sad that they could have a great season and still be relegated.

Jordan, how do you see them going?

Not well.

I mean, I don't know enough about the Twitch Town players to patronise their listening fans to kind of really go through the players of their squad.

But I will say that I can see a Vincent company style.

thing happening to McKenna whereby they may well go down.

He may well get a better job regardless if he can stick to what it is that he believes is good football and his principles.

It wouldn't surprise me if this time next year, Ipswich are not in the Premier League, but he is at a bigger club.

I have him 17th, Barry.

You?

16th, Wilson?

18th.

Jordan?

19th.

All right.

Well, look, we've done half that.

We've done half of it.

So thanks, everybody.

Yes, where's Wilson?

Fact.

You're in your element.

This is literally what we should do.

It's just a part of you giving facts.

So when...

I mean, ifswitch were obviously very heavily involved in filming of Escape to Victory.

And

the Pele, I mean, this is a spoiler for anybody who hasn't seen the film, but if you haven't seen the film,

when Pele scores the late equaliser with the overhead kick, the first time I filmed it, he absolutely nailed it.

And Laurie Syville, the Ifswitch goalkeeper, who was playing in goal for Germany,

he pulls off what he's described as the greatest save of his life.

Just hurled himself full length to his left, fingertips to it, turned it over the bar.

And everybody's like, why did you do that?

And he's like, oh, it's just interesting.

Sorry.

So

they kept going and kept going, kept going.

And Pele just couldn't nail it.

So they used the original take.

And then they had to, in a separate, they had to film Lori Syville missing a ball going past him.

So if you look at the way they cut it together, you can see that the angle of the ball is not the same.

You've saved the best till last.

Right, that's it for today.

Before we go, can we have your top four, Wilson and Jordan?

You're not on tomorrow, and your bottom three.

Wilson, you go first.

Jordan, in reverse order?

Whatever you like.

Okay, well, I've got Southampton bottom, Leicester second bottom, Ipswich, third bottom.

I'm factoring in Leicester getting a six-point deduction in that, which I think is the most likely outcome.

And then the top four, where I haven't factored in any points deductions, which may be significant.

Fourth, Manchester United, third, Liverpool, second, Arsenal, and top, Manchester City.

Wow, Manchester United in fourth.

Jordan?

I've got Arsenal top, Villa, second, City, third, Man City, and Liverpool fourth.

And my bottom three is bottom-up, Southampton finishing bottom, Ipswich, Brentford.

Thank you, gents.

Halfway through, uh, we'll do the other half tomorrow.

Um, uh, but thank you for your time today.

Cheers, Baz.

Thank you.

Thank you, Wilson.

Cheers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jordan.

Pleasure.

Football Weekly is produced by Joel Grove.

Our executive producer is Danielle Stevens.

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