3/3: World football news and notes and more...

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello everybody, and welcome on into the free kick Martino Puccio,
Gio Cosalino. Here we promised Chelsea Cabarcus will be back
with us for next week's episode. She just has some
stuff that she needs to take care of, and once
she's back, she's going to drive the energy up even
further because we know Geo's lacking of that. Yeah, I know,
well especially you you need that, right. So we had

(00:26):
tons of great games that happened over the weekend, midweek
as well that we got to Champions League action and
then Premier League El Classico took place, which was a
crazy game, great finish to that one. But we're gonna
be talking about Liverpool, man, I mean, how are they
not the story of this whole entire football season and
especially the weekend. Right we see Liverpool going in there

(00:48):
facing off against nineteenth place wat For everybody's chalking it
up as a win. Tons of people probably had him
in parlays. Not only that, just single game uh bets
where you could just expect to win a lot of
money there for home and behold, Watford goes in at
home three nothing thumping of Liverpool. It wasn't even one

(01:09):
of those cases where they escaped narrowly. Gio in this
forty four games unbeaten in the Premier League, that run
has come to an end for Liverpool. Yeah, I mean,
and Wafford got it done in a nice fashion. I
watched the match as well, and Starr was amazing, you know,
a good, good talent for Watford as well, and Deania
obviously getting a goal. There there were some lapses in
the defense I saw, even like Van Dyke and he's

(01:31):
the talk of Liverpool for the past, you know, a
couple of years or so since he joined. It's really yeah,
it did look very bad. Um. He a couple of
times on the first two goals at least he got
caught out where it was a part of being uh
you know, coupable and something in the goals that that
were conceded. So, I mean, it was surprising no one
saw this coming. I mean, three zero you can never

(01:52):
tell me you would think that they would be shut
out at least or not make it close. But they
just were bashed and at some point a streak like
that's gonna come to an end, you know. And eighteen
matches in the Premier League this season almost broke Man
Cities record. They just tied them there, so you know
it's it was impressive. Nonetheless, uh one, I think one
of the greatest runs we'll see in you know, in
the future near future, because it's hard, I think for

(02:14):
any team to really ever. I don't think the teams
below will be struggling in that. There's just like so
many different factors that play into a season like this
that that matter, right. I Mean, we see Manchester Cities
injury issues, we see the rise of Leicester City. We
got clubs like Spurs, Chelsea, man United. It all kind
of struggling. But they're right there in the mix for

(02:36):
the Champions League spot. But don't get it mixed up.
This is all about Liverpool and how dominant they've been.
They did lose twice within the past couple of weeks.
They had let it go loss and now this loss,
but they're still able to win the treble, right, They're
still in the mix for all that. Um, they're going
to win the Premier League. It's just a matter of
when that will be. In recent weeks, I know some

(02:57):
fans were a little upset because they wanted to win
the title and clinch it against Everton, because I I
totally understand you want to do that against one of
your main rivals. UM, Champions League, there's still in the
mix for that. That one nothing lost against Athletico. It stinks,
but at the same time, only a one goal deficit
and they head back to anfield we saw what they
pulled off last year against Barcelona there. I mean, Geo,

(03:20):
do you think this was actually a good thing that
they lost? Now the pressure is off of them to
chase Arsenal and that invincible season, and then they could
really just focus on winning the Champions League because the
Premier League is locked up, and that's something we talked about. Yeah,
this is a big topic of discussion, um, whether this
loss really opens things up for them, right, because now
we've talked about it ourselves, but now we could tell

(03:43):
everybody else where. It's really you know, they're really gonna
probably rest some guys in the league. They're not gonna
really go hard anymore, especially with the Champions League run.
Me and you are both confident that they can turn
that around and uh win in the second leg at
home because you know it's let to go. May have
shut them out and yeah there are no away goals,
but I'd like to go also doesn't have the the
attack that they usually had, or in the past couple

(04:04):
of years they don't score many goals, so hey at anfield.
You know, as long as the defenses on top of
their game, you know, Van Dyke goes back to being Vandyke,
not like that last game, There's not gonna really be
really any issue. I think all the focus is gonna
go on repeating the Champions League, right, and even if
and if they're able to repeat winning the Champions League,
I mean that makes that makes up for the undefeated,

(04:26):
you know, losing the undefeated season. I don't think you
really care that. I don't think. I don't think they
don't even hear that much about the undefeated season, simply
because they haven't won a Premier League title in the
modern day air and the new Premier League, right, all
their titles, all eighteen of those league titles came prior
to this, so this is the first time they're actually
gonna be lifting this new trophy. So I don't think
they care. I don't think they should care because they

(04:48):
have the best team in Europe and it's shown. But
I want to talk about the Champions League gouds right,
because Manchester City is still far and away the favorites
for that um, as you can see with the Fandel
Sports book here plus to forty from Manchester City Byron
after a really nice win at Chelsea plus three forty.
They lose Lewandowski for a little while. But then there's
Liverpool plus six hundred. Is that something that you would

(05:11):
like to jump on top of again, because again, if
you're if you're feeling very confident in Liverpool being able
to pull this off, especially not only to tie against Athletico,
there hasn't been a team again in this competition, in
the Champions League this year that's saying we're the most
dominant team. You can't stop us, no matter who we're
matched up with, are aligned with, we are going to win.

(05:33):
There hasn't been that team and now Liverpool at plus
six hundred, even if you do like City plus two
forty isn't the greatest sides. But again, if you feel
confident in Liverpool, they're not going to be losing many
matches throughout the rest of this campaign. Plus six hundred
is pretty good money. Plus six hundred is a beautiful
number that you would want to jump on. I mean,
I understand the plus two forty from Mancy. I do

(05:54):
because they they were favorites prior to absolutely and even
winning that match away at the burnabout getting two away goals,
you know, that's an impressive display, especially because maybe for
what sixty seventy minutes of it it was you know,
Real Madrid and control. It seemed like they were at least,
but they couldn't get that second that's that was important
for them, and they couldn't put one in the net,

(06:14):
and then out of nowhere Debina, right, best midfielder in
the world right now, came down to It came down
to that he worked his magic assist goal and then
you know, that's that's all it takes football, is that's
how it is. Right that the defensive lapses of Real Madrid,
which is so absolutely ridiculous, Danny Carver Hall, that was
one of the dumbest and stupidest tackles that you could

(06:34):
honestly make at that point. At a certain point, when
someone's coming within the box like that and you're a defender,
you gotta just admit defeat and not go for the
foul because you rather have someone send in across and
hope that your defenders are positioned well, your goalkeepers position well,
rightther thing giveaway a penalty, right because the odds of
them scoring a penalty is obviously much higher than them

(06:56):
scoring across. Because at the end of the day, I
don't think Teabo Courtois played his greatest scheme that day,
and he was in a really good stretch and he
even played well in L Classico as well to rebound
from that game. But the positioning from Sergio Ramos on
that goal that Gabriel jay Zeus scored, I mean, as
well as the cross was placed, as well as Gabriel

(07:18):
jay Zeus put his head to the ball. That's also
poor position from Sergio Ramos and Tibo Kortoi. Yeah, I mean,
and we've said it multiple times this season. Well you
you you don't like Courtoil at all, so we we
we know we was that. I just don't think he
was worth He's not better than Kaylor Navas. He's not
worth wondered in that money. And and then there's plenty
of keepers out there that I'd rather take over Tibo Quarto.

(07:40):
I do think he's world class on his best day,
but for Real Madrid, he's not consistent enough for a
guy that you pay all that money for and you
give to the boot of one of the three best
keepers in the world. No, I understand that, And I
mean you mentioned Navas too, who has done it for
Real Madrid's surprising when he left as well, because he's
been pretty good, you know, for PSG as well. So
it's say, it is something where you kind of think

(08:02):
to yourself, why make the move? But listen, it came
down to that that the the ties over. I mean
that first leg you can't take it back, so you've
gotta just for around Madrid to go home and you know,
I mean, go away and try to get a result.
But about Liverpool, this is about Liverpool plus six hundred.
I didn't get to say before, but I would jump
all over that. I really am confident that they can
turn around this tie. One nothing is nothing. One nail

(08:23):
is nothing for them, it really is. And I think
that they can come back. They have all the attack
options that they need to do it. You know, it's
it's really a matter of will they be on their
game that day. If they're off again like they were
against Watford, okay, then it's hard seeing them be off
in that many games consistently, right, because all the time,
there's there's a few teams over the course of history, right,

(08:45):
very very rarely, and I know we see with hu Insid, Yeah,
we see it with Byron in the Bundesligue that sometimes
the lead doesn't feel so insurmountable, right, like when they're
down to nothing and you know the seventy minute. Used
to think Liverpool can not only tie that game, that
they can wait exactly. No, I was waiting too. It

(09:05):
was like in the seventy five minute, you know it's
two to three nothing and you're like, Liverpool has got
a chance here. All they need to do is get one.
Unfortunately it didn't happen for them, and I kind of
think it's just a blip. It's a little bit of
an anomaly. This isn't something that we're going to be
coming to expect because at the end of the day,
athletic go is still a very difficult tie. You have
to give respect to some of these teams, right, we

(09:27):
can't just always strictly talk about how poor Liverpool was playing.
I think it matters that teams are stepping up and
they're trying to slowly figure out that there is a
chink in Liverpool's armor um again, so plus six hundred.
We know we'd like to go history and form. We
go back and forth on that, and I think history
does matter. I'm not saying it's completely irrelevant. But now

(09:51):
look at three Strade finals. We said this, we discussed
this after the actual score segment last week. Doesn't matter
on how difficult it is to get three straight get
to three straight finals. Of course it matters because you
have all First of all, you have the top competition
every year. Right lately, we haven't really seen the dark
horse come through and you know when or get to
a final. Actually, you know, I take that back. Tonham

(10:13):
actually surprised me, you know when they went to the course.
But other than that, it's just you know, you get
the real Madrid, you get the Barcelona's, you get the
PHG of late with you know, the Rock they rarely,
rarely you see a team that dominates the league like
they do and get to a final. Yeah, it's not
like the NBA where you know, Lebron went to the
finals every year totally. It's just totally different sport where

(10:34):
you have the best teams and the best players always win.
In the NBA and basketball, that's a different kind of sport.
But when it's kind of a one all tie, anything
can happen. We've seen, We've seen miracles happen all the time.
We even see it over the course of the season
with Leicester City as well. Not only were they the
best team at that point, it's still surprising to see
that because on paper, most of the time teams do

(10:55):
come through another sports. In this sport, it's it could
totally go out of whack in the wage bill can
be irrelevant at times. We see that even with me
on as well as another example. No, it's true though,
because they have the wage bill is up there top five,
they're not even finishing top three at times. You see
at the Lanta Lazio they're not spending all these types
of money. It's a scouting department and and guys that

(11:18):
are universally kind of accepted as some of the best
on paper. That doesn't always turn out right, It doesn't.
I mean, it takes a lot, It takes the will
of the players and whatnot also to get things done.
But I just want to ask you really quicker, where
do you think this run ranks all the time? And
we were talking about do you do you think it
matters to them that you know that they lost you
the few season or that they can manage to an extent.

(11:40):
But I think there would be more upset if they
were eliminated from certain competitions. The fact that they're still
in play to win the Treble it's easier to swallow.
But for me it's up there. It can't be Arsenals
because Arsenal did it throughout the season. I think it
can be just as good, if not better than Manchester
City from last season, but we're gonna have to try
and slowly figure that out. I mean, uh like seriously

(12:02):
now that this is amazing considering where Liverpool were in
recent years and now going to win their first Primari
League title in in decades. This is massive. This was
one of the greatest runds that you ever see. If
you couldn't appreciate it during the time, then you'll never
be able to appreciate that. But when we come back,
we're gonna be talking with our friends from Aki Score

(12:23):
to break down a few more matchups. Want to light
the lamp on Draft Kings and fan Duel this NHL
DFS season. Then joined Daily Rodo dot Com and learn

(12:45):
from the best daily fantasy sports players, getting updated fantasy
hockey projections for NHL DFS, blind combinations, and build stacks
for tournaments in the Daily Roado NHL DFS Lineup Optimizer.
If you are playing daily Fantasy Hockey without using Daily Rodo,
you are doing it wrong. Enter the Promo Code action
for a ten percent discount. That's Promo Code Action for
a ten percent discount. Hello everybody, and welcome back to

(13:17):
the Free Kick. We're with our friends from ACU score
this segment. We've had a bunch of games that we
have to get to, but we got the two matchups
that we would like to discuss on this one, Liverpool
versus Born myth. We know Liverpool had that shocking loss
against Watford. To Liverpool rebound and win this one. Every
team needs to lose eventually and Liverpool's time was up now,
so that's about it. Watford was a better team. They

(13:40):
used their chances better than Liverpool did. Liverpool has had
some issues lately in creating chances and breaking down defenses
that they were so good previously, so that's something that
you're going club will have to take a look at.
But I believe that they is still the best team
in the league and this was just a flu gone
the way to their championship. So UM, it's probably just

(14:04):
a good thing. It's a wake up call. Put their
feedback to the ground, keep working, keep winning the games
that they need to in order to win the Premier
League and then probably try to renew their Champions League
title hunt as well. UM, Bournemouth is fighting for their
lives in Premier League. They are not that bad a team.
There is probably three three worst teams in the league

(14:28):
that they are, but they results haven't been very good late.
The last weekend they drew against Chelsea, which was an
excellent result for them, but they were under a lot
of pressure all the games. So if they allow that
to happen against Liverpool, they stand no chance UM. And
Liverpool is a lot better team than Chelsea, so I
see there's no issue for the champions to to take

(14:52):
the game. UM. In active scool simulations, Liverpool are favorite,
so it's also a quite clear uh. Bondmouth only gets
five and the drug gets fifteen, so it is a
home win in our papers. Liverpool has been a clear
favorite in last four matchups when Bornemot haspecited outfield road

(15:15):
and out of those four, three has been a clear
home wins, one was two to draw. But as the
odds have been very low for the Liverpool in these games,
the value that you have find from the home wind
hasn't resulted the great betting winds, but you have a

(15:36):
barely break even in those bits. The expectation is that
Liverpool will be bouncing back in this one. But if
you had to pick a total in general on this matchup,
would it be a team total game total? What do
you guys like for the total? The last two games
have been a clear three zero victories for Liverpool against

(16:00):
the more mode and how do you see it? I mean,
will it be similar kind of result and total of
it will be under as the current line is three
point five? Or will there be more goal scored in
this game both sides? It's likely to be quite one

(16:22):
sided affair. I think Liverpool attacking, Bournemouth defending and just
hoping to get something out of the game. Liverpool probably
learned their lesson from the Waterford defeat and they try
to finish the game of early, score a couple of
goals and just make sure that they don't need to
fight until the bitter end because they need to conserve
some energy for the midweek session against Athletico Modernding Champions

(16:46):
League UM. In simulations, Liverpool scores two point thirty one
goals while Burnemouth scores zero point forty four, So in
that regards, Liverpool is the one scoring the goals. But
I would still go under three goals in this game
because Bournemouth is very unlikely to score against that good
Liverpool defense. Alright, guys, that hopefully will be a great matchup.

(17:10):
We're gonna move over here to America and the state's
Toronto FC versus n y CFC. We know the season
has just started in the MLS can be a little
bit difficult to read at times, but who do you
have winning this matchup? The start of the season is
always very tricky to predict, and we'll see how the
teams perform a little bit later on better UM. But

(17:32):
so far both teams have played one game. Toronto drew
two two with San Jose and City lost to Columbus
one nothing, so not the best of starts for either
of the teams. UM. Toronto goes into this game as
a favorite. UM. They are playing at home, which is
a massive advantage in MLS overall. UM, they did lose

(17:54):
in MLSP final last year, so they are brilliant team
and still are one of the favorites to take the
cup as well. UM City, on the other hand, won
the regular season Eastern Conference last year but lost in
conference quarterfinals to Toronto, so they have a little bit

(18:14):
of a chip on their shoulder for sure. Still, UM
they are as well as Toronto is. New York City
is one of the biggest favorites in the East to
go to the finals and take them a less cup. UM.
In Actus simulations, Toronto is forty four percent likely to win,
City wins thirty two percent, and the draw gets So

(18:36):
if you compare this to the odds, we would go
with the City or a draw in this case because
Toronto is favored by odds around. MLS have been a
treaty predicted all the time, and this game is not
any kind of exception. In the past we have predicted
away or gross to Handerson values, but it has been

(19:00):
home wins and draws in those games without any good
results in betting. Yeah, this one has been a pretty
good rivalry over the years and hopefully that continues as well.
But if you would have to pick a team to
go over or under their team total, which one would
be and why? But how do you see totals Tommy?

(19:21):
As all the previous matchups when City as with the
Toronto have been under, is their value the bit individual
team overs in this matchup or shalloy continue the bit
under as a game total. Both of the teams have
some heavy hitters in the MLS level UM. Toronto has Alti,

(19:44):
Door and Bozuelo in their lineup and New York City
will answer with Heber and Yonita, so quite level in
that regards and very good goal scorers in both teams.
We're expecting quite a bit of goals. Toronto scores two
point zero WHO on average and City gets one point
seventy two UM, so both teams are likely to score

(20:06):
more than one and a half UM. Based on this though,
I would still go with Toronto scoring over one and
a half goals in this game. Tommy Toomas, thank you
so much for all the information that you give us
over at ACTU Score guys check them out on Twitter
at ACTU score and their website actu score dot com. Geo,

(20:26):
We're gonna be straying away a little bit from gambling.
This affects gambling to a certain extent because it affects
the outcome of games directly. And that's Bar obviously. And
I just want to pull out my phone here, use
a little bit as a prop to talk about technology, right,
because technology so many times gets lost between generations, right,
because there is a generational gap between technology we know,

(20:50):
between our parents, our grandparents, and even with us, even
our younger siblings if you have younger siblings. Right. So
I always like to use BAR as an example that
it's like an iPhone when when an older person goes
back to the Apple store and they complain about the phone.
All this phone is not working well, it's not doing
the right things that I wanted to do. Meanwhile, it
is the person that is using the phone that doesn't

(21:11):
know how to use it correctly. The phone itself has
no issues at all. And I think that can be
applied to our GEO because simply the way VAR is
being used is not being used correctly. It's the rules
that are involved. It's the referees that are not using
it correctly. Um, they're not getting the right and proper
angles that they could be using. For that we've seen
it throughout time. Obviously one of the main ones was

(21:33):
Everton verse Manchester United over the past weekend. Carlo Ancelotti
got the red card for that for disputing it afterwards.
We see it all the time in Italy, all all
the controversy surrounding subjectivity of calls of the handball rule
and what's the handball? What's not a handball? What has
been your overall take of our do do you agree
with me to the extent that the technology of OAR

(21:55):
is good but it's not being applied right now? I agree.
I think that the whole, the overall concept of having
FAR is to make the decisions cleaner right for the game,
and to get the decisions right. So I'm not against
VAR itself, but the rules underlining the VAR and just
how it's used, just it makes the VAR kind of
seutf for failure right, and that's why people are complaining.

(22:18):
It's because of the rules being way too subjective. For example,
just to shy away from the Calvert Lewin goal or
I mean sorry, the everython goal real quick in Italy
will setting out right. We see this whole handball rule
and we see VAR being you. Sometimes the handballs are
given a penalty. Sometimes they're not, and it just seems
like people are going to complain, Oh, is it because
of this team? Is because of that team, It's because
the interpretation of referee. It's just too subjective. You know,

(22:41):
one referee will say no, it's it's so so, so
give them a breakdown of what exactly the rule change
has been in Italy. So basically, I think the easiest
way to explain it is anytime the ball touches your arm,
it's a handball, which is absolutely ridiculous because if you're
a stiff like this and you have your arms up
against your body, what else can you do, Like you
can't chop off your arms and prevent the ball from

(23:03):
hitting your arms. If you're in a straight position like
this and your arms are against your body and the
and the ball hits your arm, they're calling that a handball.
In turn, that has nothing to do with bar. That
has to do with a rule being completely stupid. And
even let's say you're going off for a corner right
you're jumping up and your moment, you can't jump with
your it's hard to really jump with your hands behind
your back, where like this you can do it, but

(23:24):
I'm just saying, when you're trying to get momentum, let's say,
for a clearance, even the David Calabria, when when when
he's back his faceball isn't hitting you in the direction
of the goal. It's just at this point in the league,
it's all right, we're going to bar. It's usually a penalty,
you know. And that's that's the problem. We saw what
your team's lots on. One angle will show you it

(23:44):
hits his arm. Another angle maybe comes all the stomach.
Shouldn't get the angle that we see at home because
sometimes we see it within the NFL, even the NBA
sometimes that we're viewing angles that we see that that's
not a handball. We clearly see it hit off his stomach.
So why us the fans of the viewers are seeing
something completely different than the guys that should have the
best view possible. And var and again that that is

(24:07):
just the ability of not applying this correctly, because if
you're not using the technology right, Like, how are you
going to blame the iPhone for not calling someone correctly
when you're not pressing dial right. That's not the phone's fault,
that's your fault for not using the phone right. It's
not Var's fault that you're viewing the wrong camera angles

(24:28):
or you're interpreting the rule in a poor way, because
at the end of the day, Var is there to
get things right. Because one goal that we could talk
about and I like to talk about often is Frank
Lampard's goal that was taken away against Germany in the
World Cup. Now you want to go back and talk
about that, you hate VAR, but in that moment in time,
we're still talking about a goal that was disallowed ten

(24:50):
years later. We can get rid of that conversation if
we get the goal right by using bar. Yeah, I mean,
I just feel like it just really comes down. So
we see other sports right wanting to and nail the
rules right so that one video replays are are concerning
that you get it right. And that's what I think
it is. You got to you have to find something
that's really objective. So vark people using the oars, arrest

(25:10):
using the VARs in in the room back there, look
at the replay, know what they're doing, and I think
that's really what's standing line caused. Will VAR be a
success at the end of the day, Yester, No, I
think it's needed to police to game. But a lot
of people will say no. All right, but when we
come back, we're gonna be talking about some more top
Premier League met shows. Are you ready for the nation's

(25:49):
first and only three twenty four hour network dedicated to you,
the betting and fantasy sports enthusiasts. Sports Crede will provide
you with a real time content, statistics and gaming and
diligence unlike anything you've ever seen before. Located both in
the horror of New York City and inside the FanDuel
Sports book at the meadow Ends Sports Grade. He's live
eighteen hours a day. He just serve you. No fanatic this,

(26:13):
he's sports Grade. Get all. The grade bar has obviously
been a major controversy throughout the sport. There's no disputing that.
And then once again that took place as we just
discussed with Everton and Manchester United over the weekend. That

(26:37):
affects Everton and Chelsea heading into this matchup on the weekend. Look,
let's face it, Carlo Ancelotte getting the red card after
the match, discussing with the referees about the issue involving
the David dheagal Um and the whole bar controversy there
he won't be there on the sidelines for Everton. This
is a pretty big matchup for Everton, not only because

(26:58):
they want to get closer to a European spot, especially
bringing in Carlo mantrol lotate that they wanted to sell
there's this season, they've done a pretty good job of that. Chelsea,
I mean, they're they're They're a difficult team to read
at this point. I really want to stay away from them,
but we can't stick away from a matchup like this
right at this point, Chelsea has so many different variables

(27:19):
going on that have been affecting their season. It basically
seems like they're out of the Champions League after allowing
so many goals to Buyron at home at Stanford Bridge. Joe,
what is it going on with Chelsea? Do you like
betting on them? They? Do you even want to consider? No,
I mean, it's hard to really consider even betting on
them for a draw or anything like that. Like goals,

(27:39):
you just can't tell whether where it's gonna go. And
you know, I think a really big part of that
is the injuries that they have suffered a lot, I mean,
and that's kind of a common thing for a lot
of teams this season. Right, Man United has gone through
a lot of injuries, Man City, UM and Arsenal just
hasn't played well. This doesn't mean, you know, it doesn't
matter on injuries, but but no, listen, I mean, Chelsea's
really banged up, you Georgino is going to be suspended

(28:01):
for this matchup. Conte's out a lot of players of
the other players of bang Up, Plusa hasn't really been
able to really play much at all the season. So
it's it's a mess. It's a mess at Chelsea. I
think that you know, they're still in a great spot
considering what's happened to them. A lot of people they
were they were low, they were low. And I wrote

(28:22):
here also you know they've only won once in the
Premier League since January eleventh, so to say that they're
still in fourth with a couple of points ahead Um
and and they're gonna be in conversation for that fourth spot,
if not the third spot, because Lesser's starting to fall. Right.
It's just it's just a culmination of everyone starting to
play badly and and Lester and Chelsea have gone on

(28:43):
both their bad runs at the same time. So it
kind of benefits both teams is you know, one of
them might get that spot, but it's gonna be down
to the wire because now you have been United coming
from behind. Everton's an outside shot because they're they're eight
points away. You never know. I mean, it's just there's
there's in ten games, ten games, you just there's already
points out there for teams to get, So you don't
really know where it's gonna go. But I'd stay away

(29:04):
from Chelsea. I'm just too scared. You don't you know,
you don't know which Abraham's gonna step up, if he
even comes back, because he's been injured as well. You
don't know if if you have to play all you
know Jerrude out there. He's not a bad player, but
in terms of goal scoring that they desperately, he's not
the guy that you want to turn to. For me.
This is this is something that we talked about in
earlier shows earlier this year that Chelsea still haven't beaten

(29:27):
Everton since Antonio cunte was there, right, and I believe
that was from August. So you have to go all
the way back once again. And we were talking about
in the last time that this happened that we thought
Chelsea would finally break that and win that game. Everton
now going into this plus three seventy on the money line,
plus two eighty with the draw minus one thirty five

(29:48):
because Chelsea is at home at Stanford Bridge. Dude, like
taking Everton in this. I mean plus three seventy. They've
they've shown a tendency to play well against Chelsea. But
no on Chelotti on the signline. I think that is
absolutely a big deal when you can't have one of
the greatest managers of his era. Yeah, and and when
you're talking about money line, especially if you want to

(30:08):
lean towards that, I get that the plus money is
nice and Bay you can make some some great money
off that. But if I'm going to choose something for personally,
I'm gonna go towards the draw in this matchup. I
feel like you mentioned Atlalti not being there. Listen, He's
completely turned his team around, and I know firsthand what
he can do because he he coached Monopoly this season,
you know, before he came to Everton, and you know,

(30:29):
whatever the whole story was there, it's not been the
case in the Premier League. He has been just been unstoppable.
They have been on fire. Calvert Lewin under him has
been scoring left and right. He has thirteen goals now
and they only have one Premier League loss, so it's
kind of the opposite of Chelsea. They've only lost once
in the league since January one, so that's two whole
months only one loss in the league. That's pretty impressive.

(30:51):
They've gone away from being near the bottom of the table.
They're there in the middle now and you never know
if they go on some huge run where they can
end up. UM, but I like if I to lean
towards the team, UM, I can't choose either of them
because they're also at you know, Stanford Bridge. It's it's
it's has to do with it. You know, the atmosphere
changes when you're on the road. But a plus to
eight draw, I love that as well. UM, And I

(31:14):
think you're gonna get goals in this matchup, to be
honest with you, I think it'll be maybe a sloppy game.
I think you'll getting over two and a half, so
you can hit three goals. You could have gotten more
than the three goals that were scored on him in
that Buyer matchup. That was really poor defense, and we
say it to all the time. With Chelsea, I don't
love that. I don't love their goalkeeper and they have

(31:34):
a mess of goalkeeper because they've been playing Kabba yet
instead of right in the last three or four games.
He's older than Petter Check. Right now, do you actually
realize how absurd that is? Now? Currently working in management
pretty Chelsea at the same time, at this point, why
not just tell him to come out and just sign

(31:55):
with them and get back in between the net because
at this point it's a complete is that master there?
And they're going to have to figure out something over
the summer as well. And and to me again that
goes back to what happened in January. How does Chelsea
not make any moves? Right? They know they have to.
This is a very young team. They needed to bring
in some experience there. I know they're they're making some
more moves that they want to bring in guys prior

(32:17):
to the summer. They want to sign them now and
announce some of these deals. With Zeke was one of
those guys that they pulled off, similar to what they
did with Pulistic till last year. But but again, Chelsea,
you had the opportunity here to go and get that
forth spot, locking up, bring in some veteran leadership. They
don't do that, And now they're struggling here and and

(32:38):
they're gonna be laboring to get that force spot. How
confident are you in them getting that forth spot? I
still think it's the high possibility because you have to
factor in all these injuries that Spurs have to deal with.
There's also Manchester United you don't fully trust, even though
they're looming within the shadows even less they're city. You're right,
you brought that up to a certain point, even if

(32:59):
they're not playing well. There's a scenario in which Chelsea
can jump ahead if what what has to happen for you?
Is there a certain lineup that you have to see
going into this weekend to bet Chelsea on the money
line this weekend? It's hard for me just because you
have so many guys out content. If you don't have
Content or Georgina in your midfield, you're you're almost done
for I mean, that's one of the better midfield combos.

(33:21):
And don't get me wrong, don't get me wrong, has
been you know, pretty good for them. He has been good.
He has been I've seen a better attitude from him
as well, better play. I think Lampard really likes him
as well because he's constantly playing with them. But then
if you lose your two starting midfielders. And I understand
also Chelsea fans, there's a lot that it's kind of
split with Georgino. And you've seen him firsthand in the league.

(33:43):
We watch a lot, but it's different in the Premier League. Right,
the role is not the same. They find they find
any little thing to criticize that and listen, he's not
the type that will win you the ball because he's
not fast. He is the organizer of your midfield, right,
you have content to win back the balls. Also would
be finite distribution. But then Georgino steps in there, he's
kind of just controlling the flow of where the fields

(34:05):
being moved, right, left, right, center, whatever it is is
just idiotic. But him out, I know, but I mean,
just him out, it's not going to be the same.
You have both of them out, the midfield is going
to be a mess, you know, and then you have
to plug in players that you usually don't plug in
there or just are you know your depth players? What
do you think would have been a more fair number
than minus one thirty five. What do you think, do
you what do you think is playing a part into

(34:28):
this with these odds coming out like that, because again
when we record this stuff, we don't truly know what
what the lineups are going to be at this point.
Sometimes things change like that, Ancelote, I guess they're just
assuming he's that big of a deal that he isn't
going to be there, that Everton really doesn't really have
a chance to pull this out. I mean, also Chelsea

(34:49):
being home is a big factor as well, and we
mentioned I already been talking about it, the disparity between
the places. It seems like it's such a big gap.
It's really not. But they've lost so many games again
schemes that they should not be having points against, and
and that's why at this point it's kind of difficult
to just really talk about them in general because I think,
for my money, they're the most difficult team to get

(35:11):
a read on in the Premier League at this point,
including Spurs. I know Spurs had that run, but you
can kind of see it coming because they've had the
injuries at that point, which Helsey, they're really they're really
fully healthy now and you're just thinking yourself doesn't have
to tie in with the fact that this is a
very young squad, first year manager in the Premier League
with Frank Lampard, they're gonna have this turbulence where they

(35:32):
have these bumps and stretches that it's difficult for them
to pull out points. I think this is this is
definitely one of those matches that they have a difficulty
doing that. Yeah, I agree with that. And if you
look at Everton too, they've been getting if if they
don't get wins, they're beginning draws against decent teams. You know,
they've been getting the results that day that they are
looking to get. Um. I think with finally they have

(35:55):
a sugar they can rely on because we we also
know that, you know, Keen going from Uventus to Everton,
we thought he would have such a much bigger impact
and they didn't really get that impact so earlier in
the season. You know, yeah, they weren't getting him any minutes.
You know, I for whoever was there before Latti really
wasn't using him and using him the wrong way. And
now he's not even playing as or just not producing

(36:17):
as much. But now you have calver Lewin stepping up right,
and we're used to, like cigarette cigaretton doing a lot more,
and he hasn't been having, you know, a great season.
Diana also was out with injury. So I'm impressed that
they've even come this far. Honestly, I'm I'm honestly impressed
that they've gotten these results. You know, Like I mentioned,
one loss in two months is pretty damn good, you know,
and we and they almost beat Man United. They should have.

(36:44):
You know, they're gonna be confident going into this matchup.
I see no reason why they should even be plus
three seventy. You know. I can be fine with Chelsea
being one minus one thirty five, but Everton maybe a
plus two hundred, you know, not considering and the form counts.
You know. So you said you envisioned a lot of
goals there, and so I want to bring up because
Vandel Sports. But this is one of the best things

(37:06):
about the sports book is that you can bet different
types of totals. Right, You can go over under two
and a half goals over under three and a half.
So you like a lot of goals, four goals isn't
completely out of the question. When we're talking about this
over three and a half goals is a plus one?
Is that something like to me? I definitely could see
that happening the under their under three and a half

(37:28):
minus two forty five. I know we like to always
keep the barometer around two and a half goals. But
since you like a lot of goals to come in
this matchup, there isn't particularly a lot of great goal
scorers in this and I know you're kind of basing
it off of the lack of midfield. There's going to
be more opportunities because it's not gonna be as defensive
as a matchup. These two teams don't have great back

(37:49):
for defensive lines the goalkeeper issues which we highlighted. Would
you be inclined to do over three nine? There's absolutely
scenario where you can get that. You know, me playing
it safe, I'd rather say two and a half, but
there is there is a scenario where you get this
you mentioned it to would you would you just wait
for the lineup? I would wait for the lineups. Do
you want to see who they're playing and also, Everton,
how they line up away on the road, if they're

(38:11):
gonna line up maybe a little bit more defensively trying
to hold the midfield. I don't see that happening. I
think it's gonna be a loose cannon. They're really just
gonna go for it. I think you'll see a lot
of chances back forth. Yeah, even even the over two
and a half of minus one thirty, that feels a
lot more safe because you can't see a scenario where
it's two to one. But even the over three and
a half, we're saying, like, if you if this place

(38:31):
to a draw, could you see two to draw? Of
course why not? I mean there's no reason not to because,
like I said, Everton hasn't in for Are you okay?
So Papa really couple euro starts in that? What do
you who? Are you more confident? And if it's Cup
of Yuro do you think less goals? No? I just
think I think they play if they should play Kampa,
but I think that even either one they're gonna concede it.

(38:52):
I mean, none of them is well. Expect lots of
goals in this. But when we come back, we're gonna
be talking other top matchups. I want to be the
next Daily Fantasy Millionaire. Dunk on your NBA DFS competition
with Daily rodal dot Com and dominate on fandel and
DraftKings this season. Compete with the pros with Daily Rodal
dot Com Optimizer and the most accurate projections in NBA DFS,

(39:13):
plus line up alerts, breaking news, lake swap support and
much more. Safe on winning NBA DFS advice with promo
code Dunk. Visit Daily Rodal dot com backslash dunc you
learn more. Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Free

(39:37):
Kick on the Sports Grid TV network. You can check
us out on all the different channels, especially on YouTube
where you can get some of these clips if you
miss the show. There's obviously so many matchups that we
love to get into, but the best and biggest matchup
of all was safe for the last segment, and that's
the Manchester Derby. Manchester City and Manchester United and I
have had some of the more entertaining games this season,

(39:59):
whether it's the f A Cup, Carabarro Cup, I mean,
you name it, all the competitions, including the Premier League.
We're back to the Premier League now. It's just the
United has been Manchester City twice this season and that
is something that we have not seen. We've gotten that wrong.
We will admit that when we get stuff wrong on
this show. It's very hard to find that in other places,
especially people who don't like to admit they're wrong on

(40:21):
certain topics. I have no shame, I have no humility.
We've been spot off on a couple of these things.
Look at this, I mean Manchester United heading into this now,
they're at Old Trafford plus four sixty on the money line,
plus three forty draw Man City minus worn eight on
the road going in there. We know they've been playing
some really great football as of late. They're getting players
back from injuries. They had that great result against Real

(40:43):
Madrid over the weekend. Geoe, do you do you like
the lines that coming down here in Manchester City being
favored like they are. I mean, I don't. I don't
see why they aren't. You know, I agree with that
at minus one eight, I would have liked maybe just
because they are her way, you know, just to give
us some more maybe. No, they have, they have played

(41:04):
well against them, and even just in general lately. The
Bruno Fernandez signing has really changed this team. I think,
you know, they finally have that because the pressure when
they bring in big money players like that, like We've
seen Harry McGuire, We've seen Aaron Juanmasaka. They don't necessarily
live up to the hype in the amount of money
that makes US United spent on them. Bruno Fernandez immediately,
he looks like just the personality that he has on

(41:25):
the field, it looks like he's excited to go with that,
go out there under pressure and he doesn't really care
what happens because he's gonna go play out his game.
I mean, he's played what four games assists, whether it's
assist or goals. He's getting it done. He's creating chance
for them. I'm honestly very impressed by him as well,
because you also have the thing where you come into
a midfield and you're also trying to say, hey, what
was the last really big midfield we signed. It's Pug

(41:47):
but and you know, there's that name is always floating around.
That's such a whole segment with so absolutely and that's
always a name that floats out around with the likes
of going back to you a the real Madrid, you know,
so a lot of pressure, especially with the price stacker
him to come in. I'm very impressive what he with,
what he's done so you know, even in this game,
I think they're gonna gravitate around him. He's going to
come from him where they can create the chances. Marciall

(42:10):
has have done a pretty good job without you know, Rashford,
there's a partner with him. They have started scored. The
craziest part on how much better they're playing without Marcus
Rashford because everyone is sitting there thinking Marcus Rashford was
the whole reason that Manchester already even had a pulse
this season. Then all of a sudden, you're sitting there
thinking of yourself, Okay, then where was this with Marcus

(42:31):
Rashford where they depending too much on him? Because at
a certain point in time, when you just run everything
through one player, you because you can become dependent on him,
sort of like Barcelona would messy even at times with you.
You see with Christiano Ronaldo that players are so great
that he kind of just like, okay, let's not worry
about our other flaws here. We could just depend on him.

(42:53):
He can go and go get the goal and carry us.
Now it kind of seems like Manchester United's playing a
little bit more as a team. But we go back
into the Benning stuff. In this Manchester Unity has played
so well against them, plus four sixty feels very very
high for them at old traffic, It really does. And
I think even if you look at the Everton game,
I know the whole bar situation was there. We've touched

(43:14):
on this, but if the hand never makes that mistake,
you know, they could have come out there with with
a type victory. You never know. That's a that's a
hindsight tour. You can never really go back. Still, it's
the fact that they were playing like that and if
it comes down to bar var is out of their hands.
But they can control is how well they play, and
they play well. Yeah, and and they've been getting some
results lately as well. I mean I do still like

(43:35):
you know, unfortunately for man United fans, I really still
do like man City. I think they finally gained some momentum. Listen.
I mean, there's no point worrying about the league because
they're not gonna win the league. No one else playing
with house money since the band band coming down from UEFA,
that like, this doesn't matter. If we're going to be
guilty and and go forward with no Champions League, let's
put all of our chips at the center of the table.

(43:57):
And and we've seen in other tournaments to right, they
just won a title all the weekend, right, and so
that they also went into the burn smaller than this
laptop by the way. Yeah, well it's I mean, I mean,
I think it's just one of those made up trophies.
It's you know, you know when they have those stupid
bowl games and college football where they're just constantly making
it up like Doritos Spicy Chili, Nacho cheese that that. Yeah,

(44:20):
it's just like the Fifth Cup and that's the Cara
Barrel Cup, or even the truck how about this or
like the rip Roma that trophy that they won over
the over the summer. I think it was it just
looked like it was it was a in your in
your backyard. I mean, I mean, let's let's face it.
Roma's only got two league titles over the course, so
you have to take well, no, no, they do deserve shots.

(44:41):
A team that talks as big as I haven't won
a trophy in over a decade. They deserve it. But
I digress, we continue going. I was just saying, I
think you're right when it comes to uh talking about
the band. Listen, I don't think the players necessarily themselves
have a point to prove, because it's not like the
player it's not like it was a cheating scandal, you
know what I mean, as back to sixteen, where the

(45:02):
violation is a good amount of the core of these
players came a little bit after that, right, and so
I don't think that it's necessarily on them to say, hey,
we have to go out there and prove to people.
I just think that they're more concentrated now. We saw that.
I was gonna say going into the Champions League game, Hey,
if we're not gonna be in this competition next year,
then maybe we should try to win it. And they
got two away goals that are very important. I mean

(45:22):
that they're heavily favoring too, even though they did lose
the league to Liverpool. Right, they're sitting there thing in themselves. Okay,
when when we originally won that one whin Aguero scored
the goal as a Queen Spark Rangers game, it was
one of the greatest games that you'll ever see. They
won that title and they've won a couple more since then. Right,
So now you're kind of thinking at the back of
your head, Uh, maybe the Premier League title isn't really

(45:44):
something that we should be worrying about and want to
be chasing. What we really want to be worried about
is getting over the Champions League. We brought in Pep
Cordiola for that specific reason because they won with Pello Greni.
They won within Mancini. What they really want to do
is lift that Champions League title, because that's something they're missing,
that's that kind of validation that they are one of
the top clubs in the world. They have been one
of the top clubs in the world simply because of

(46:06):
their domestic dominance, and then what they've been doing in
the Champions League. They've been playing well, but they have
suffered heart brace, right the defeat to Monaco, the defeat
to Spurs just last year. Everything is about them just
getting over this hump, and I think they are going
to put all that energy in there. And we said
we we didn't think that they were a great team

(46:26):
to play, set and money on to win the Champions League.
And I know we're striding a little away from that game,
but to just simply talk about that that we could
see them potentially doing that. We're not saying man City
is incapable of winning these tournaments. We said they are
capable of that. But now are are they changing your
mind a little bit that they're able to do that? Well,
they are because if you remember earlier in the year,

(46:47):
we said that they have the capability, but we were
just a little bit more confident in Real Madrid winning
the time because the injuries were and that was a
point where Real Madrid was finally playing, you know, they
were on a roll without finally a post Ronaldo Real
Madrid team where you're like, you're confident in them. They're
back on top of the league right now. By the way,
after all Classico, big win for them. Um. But then

(47:08):
man City comes out and turns that game around, you know,
on the road. So absolutely they have the chance to
win and they can match up with anybody. You first,
you have very difficult to I must say, to start
to interrupt, but the burnabout you're down one nothing over there, right,
So so now you're sort of thinking like Real Madrid
is playing way better than Manchester City and you're thinking

(47:28):
in yourself, okay, now this is more of the more
of the same, right, We're gonna lose another tie here.
It looks like real Madrid was about to get a
second goal and that's not the kind of deficit that
you want heading back in there. But they showed their resolve,
Kevin de Bruiner stepping up and showing why he is
the best midfielder in the world, and they come back
and they win them. They could easily again missed that
penalty as well because there's even more pressure there in

(47:51):
the burnabout again we talk about the history of English
teams there to me mentally, that showed a new side
of Manchester City for me and something I really like
moving for ye and that's what I think they carry
into the derby. We've seen time and time again that
derbys are always, you know, the closer matchups and sometimes
you play tight, you know. And I they've lost twice already.
They want to beat them, uh this season, and I

(48:14):
think you talked about the guy. It's gonna be the
you know, the Brno show. He has to be the
guy to really create the chances. I've been impressed actually
by the way that they've played without a Wearo. They
don't really right, they barely used him and they didn't
need him because Jaysus has been playing very well for them.
Getting goals in pretty key moments. Mars I like as well.
He's been pretty pretty good for them as well in

(48:34):
the league and also in the Champions League. But it
all starts with KDB, right, I mean is the guy, um,
I mean he's going to control this matchup. I think
that that's what they want to prove. I think, if anything,
they just want to prove we need to win against
Manchester United this season because you know, there's been a
couple of losses. But I don't think they need a
point to prove in terms of a band and whatnot.
I think that it's gonna suffer them if they're not

(48:56):
gonna be in the Champions League. It's gonna stink for
them just because of the team that they have to
see what they peel and we have to see what
if there's a point dunction, you know, like we don't
know what's gonna happen yet. That's out of our hands.
That's when the investigation closes. We will talk about that
on the show. Um. But I I leaned towards man
City here just talking about the game. I know it's
on the road, um, but they've just been playing so

(49:18):
well lately. Just one of these tight, narrow victories that
you see because again we we love going with the
over under two and a half. The under two and
a half is plus one four, the over minus one
fifty two. I mean I could see I want to
say one nothing win for City, but if I see
it's sticking under then I would see a draw coming

(49:39):
into play here, which I'm not that sure is going
to happen. I think we're gonna see a winner in
this simply because I do think Manchester City wants to
prove that they can beat Manchester Unity, because can you
imagine like not even beating Manchester United ones considering the
talent and wage gap between these two teams. I mean,
that's a massive win, immortal victor for Manchester United. That's

(50:01):
bragging rights. Bragging rights do matter whether or not Manchester
United is close to being as good as a team
as Manchester City is. We know for a fact in
city rivalries in Derby's that matters. No. I mean, especially
when you talk about direct rival you know that it's
it's basically your neighbor. It's just right to you. You're
either time I left and time I right. This is
what you talk about, and I think I still think

(50:22):
it's gonna be close, like you said, listen, even close
for me, yeah, because we all have different definitions of
what close means. You know, to one for me score
line and then and I think to one is a
nice score line for me too. That's close for me
because I don't see a five nothing win, right, I
don't see I don't see slakin from one of these teams.
I see it being pretty close. I don't think these

(50:45):
teams really do draw much when they play each other.
There's always somehow there is a winner, So I think
you've got to pick one, you know, either, So I
don't think I would ever go for the draw, which
is still nice to plus three forty if you're thinking
that when we're talking about this, because I give some
credits in Main United, they have been in good for
you know, even though their defense might not be impressive,
they've somehow gotten results lately, um and and they're in

(51:05):
the conversation for the fourth spot. There are three points
behind Chelsea. I know at the time that we're making
this more of indictment on the league. I think there
have been a lot of teams under playing, but I
lean towards Man City. It's just man City money line.
Would you like to lean over under? What would you
like to go with? I'll put myself one in line
to say over. I know that's also I mean that's

(51:27):
the weak points in both of these teams again, is
the back defensively? Yeah, so I I do agree with that.
I think I would probably lean to that, But I
wouldn't bash you if you were to pick Manchester United
on the money line, just because that number is so
big and they have played so well against Manchester City,
it is not completely out of the equation. But for
a matchup like this and look at the lineups. Make

(51:49):
sure you guys look at the lineups are always key.
Check out our Twitter for that kind of stuff. But
that'll do it for the show this week. Thank you
guys so much for watching and giving us support. Please
like a little subscribe on YouTube and we'll see you
next week. Are you ready for the nation's first and

(52:09):
only free, twenty four hour network dedicated to you the
betting and fantasy sports enthusiast. Sports Grade will provide you
with a real time content, statistics and gaming intelligence unlike
anything you've ever seen before. Located both in the heart
of New York City, and inside the FanDuel Sports Book
at the Metal Lands. Sports Grade is live eighteen hours
a day, here to serve you the fanatic. This is

(52:33):
Sports Grade. Get all the gride,