What an exciting week in football, the draw for the bigger than life 2026 World Cup was Friday, the MLS Cup Final showdown between Messi and Müller is Saturday, oh and Everton plays Forest in the Premier League… huge just huge.

-Gabe

In this edition

• Fixtures

• Extra Slice

Matchweek 15 Fixtures

Saturday, December 6

🟣 Aston Villa vs 🔫 Arsenal — 4:30 AM — USA

🍒 Bournemouth vs 🦁 Chelsea — 7:00 AM — NBC

🟦 Everton vs 🌲 Nottingham Forest — 7:00 AM — Peacock

🌙 Man City vs 🧭 Sunderland — 7:00 AM — Peacock
Sunderland haven’t beaten City at the Etihad in 11 Premier League attempts, and Pep’s side have won 11 of their last 12 league matches on home turf. History, form, and logic all lean sky blue. But here’s the twist, Sunderland lead the league in points won from losing positions, and City have looked shaky lately, scraping through thrillers against Leeds and Fulham. If the Black Cats can hang around long enough to make this nervy, we might just get drama instead of a routine Etihad route.

⚫ Newcastle vs 🟣 Burnley — 7:00 AM — Peacock

🐓 Tottenham vs 🐝 Brentford — 7:00 AM — USA

💛 Leeds United vs 🔴 Liverpool — 9:30 AM — USA

Sunday, December 7

🐦 Brighton vs ⚒️ West Ham — 6:00 AM — USA

🏠 Fulham vs 🦅 Crystal Palace — 8:30 AM — USA

Monday, December 8

🐺 Wolves vs 🟥 Manchester United — 12:00 PM — USA
The weekend closes at Molineux, where Wolves are still hunting their first league win of the season. It hasn’t been pretty; seven straight losses, five without scoring, and only two points from 14 matches, matching one of the worst starts in Premier League history. United arrive in far steadier form, unbeaten in their last four away fixtures after a long drought on the road. Wolves did stun them twice last season, completing the league double, but United haven’t lost back-to-back visits here since 1980. If Wolves have anything at all to offer this season, now is the time.

^{Times are in Pacific Standard Time and channels are based in the U.S.
Stats are supplied by Opta Analyst.}

Extra Slice

Rodri likes to joke that he doesn’t speak English, he speaks American. Before he was the calmest midfielder in Europe, he was a 14-year-old kid from Madrid learning “sawker” in the forests of Connecticut, roasting marshmallows, running around a lake screaming when Iniesta won Spain the World Cup. Fast forward a few years he’s now a winner of the Champions Leagues, multiple Premier Leagues, and a Ballon d’Or.

And right now, Manchester City are missing their defensive midfielder desperately.

Rodri has barely played this season; just 294 Premier League minutes in four months — battling lingering hamstring trouble after losing nearly all of last year to an ACL injury. Guardiola says he is “suffering, struggling,” and desperate to return, but City are terrified of rushing him back. The man who won the Ballon d’Or after losing only one game for club and country in 2024 is being heavily protected. Pep said it plainly: “Do you know what it means to play without the best player in the world for 18 months?”

The Rodri Effect is astounding, City wins around 74% of the time when Rodri plays. But without him, last season their winning percentage dropped to 61%. This last week may have been a perfect taste of life without Rodri, as City gave up four goals to a Fulham team after being up by 4 goals to 1.

Look for his coming on the first light of the fifth day, at dawn, look to the East, return once he’s fully fit (and not a moment sooner) to be a major boost to City’s consistency, and overall competitive aspirations across all competitions.

See you soon, Gabe.