El Clásico Weekend!

The wild Everton vs Newcastle Thursday evening game got delayed by eight minutes at the start of the second half due to a fan invading the pitch. This fan took an innovative approach to protesting: 

The fan ziplocked himself against the goal post. A+ for creativity.

The best part came when they were trying to get him off. I mean, look at the face of the bolt cutter. Man's putting in a full shift here. The kind of effort they talk about. This guy didn't dream of being a Tik Toker growing up. Impressive stuff. 

Everton snatched a massive three points courtesy of a late Alex Iwobi goal, which gives them a huge boost in the relegation battle. 

Let's get straight into it.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Leeds United's last minute winner makes for one of the best videos of the 2021-2022 season so far. Click on the tween, and pay close attention to how quiet the fans get right before the ball hits the back of the net. You'll also watch Stuart Dallas' brain melt down as he bangs the ground in a moment of pure happiness. Insane. We love this game.

🇪🇺 European nights: The quarterfinals of all three major European competitions have been sorted. Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League at home to Atlético Madrid, while Barcelona squeezed by Galatasaray in the Europa League. CL darlings Ajax also collapsed in a shock loss to Benfica, on the back of yet another goal from wonderkid Darwin Nuñez.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Title race: ENGAGE. The race the Premier League title is officially on––in case you didn't know yet. Manchester City dropped points against a stubborn Crystal Palace side at Selhurst Park at the weekend, while Liverpool pushed past Arsenal 2-0 midweek to bring the title race down to just one solitary point. Reminder: City play Liverpool at the Etihad on April 10th. 

Xavi's first El Clasico

Real Madrid (+110) vs FC Barcelona (+245): Sunday 4 PM ET 

March 2, 2019. That was the last time that Barcelona beat Real Madrid. Will the run of 5 defeats in a row come to an end this weekend? Let's look at the numbers. Real Madrid are 10 points clear at the top of the table. They have the best attack in the league, led by Vini Jr and Mercedes Benzema. The two attackers have combined for 61% of Madrid's league goals (36 out of 59). If you've watched Madrid this season, all they need to do is give the ball to one of these two and they will create something. Ancelotti has the boys in white playing some extremely efficient football. 

Barcelona have been much improved under Xavi - with new signings Aubameyang, Ferran Torres, and Adama Traore all enjoying terrific starts to life at Camp Nou. Under Xavi, Barcelona press extremely well, having won the second most possessions in the final third in the league. 

This game will be won in the midfield. Veterans Casemiro, Kroos and Modric will face up against Grandpa Busquets and his two pupils: Frenkie and Pedri. Whoever wins this battle wins the game.

London Top 4 Derby

Tottenham (-140) vs West Ham (+370): Sunday 12:30 PM ET 

Two London rivals face off in a match with top four implications this weekend. Tottenham are shaky at the moment––you just never know what time you're going to get. West Ham have dropped off a bit, winning just two of their last five in the PL. 

Where were West Ham in the January transfer window? It's clear to see the thing this team lacks most is depth, and they didn't do a single thing about it. Jarrod Bowen has just gone down with an injury that will keep him out for the considerable future, and every time Michail Antonio hits the deck West Ham fans around the world check their pulses. Yet, Ukrainian superhero Andriy Yarmolenko has come back into the team and delivered some epic goals from the bench. One for the good guys. 

Tottenham need to deliver top four to continue this Conte project, but so do Arsenal... and United... There is what's looking like one spot up for grabs between the three, and I'm not ruling West Ham out yet I just don't see them getting there in the end.

However, win, and everything changes––for both of these sides. 

Dan & Billy's Betting Picks

Dan's Picks: Another 2/3 week for me - we are in cruise mode now. With money coming in every week, I might be able to quit my job and focus on being a professional soccer gambler. Billy on the other hand had another poor showing at 1/3. I think you can just skip over his picks this week. Here is what I like this weekend: 

Lock: Spurs to beat West Ham at -140. Take them early - West Ham will be exhausted after their Europa League tie with Sevilla went to extra time. I also really like the over 2.5 goals in the Leicester vs Brentford clash. And the PSG fans won't like me for this one, but PSG to beat Monaco this weekend is also a lock (-105).

Billy's Picks: I'm not terribly proud of another poor 1/3 week, also putting me at a whopping 1/6 over the past two weeks. But I guess if you count the week before its 4/9, so, anyways, I digress... The most painful thing about going 1/6 is that the one I got right was also a Dan pick. That brings me great pain, seeing the smirk on his face in meetings all week. He'll say it wasn't there, but I know otherwise. 

If you still plan on reading my second paragraph I like Leicester to put away Brentford Sunday at (+105). Leicester haven't been great of late, but they've got some guys coming back and I just expect a performance here. I also like o2.5 (-135) in the Villa Arsenal game, with an FA Cup banker on Palace (-110) over Everton to round me out. Good luck? 

Goal Of The Week 

The goal of the week is a special one for us––it was scored by one of our very own subscribers: USL superstar Harry Swartz. Harry scored New Mexico's united first goal of the season in front of 12,000 people in a 2-0 victory for his team. Some say he is the Lionel Messi of Albuquerque. 

Red Card Of The Week 

After being fouled 5 times and committing 6 fouls, Nabil Fekir had enough and decided to kick the shi* out of the Bilbao player whispering in his ear. 

Have a great weekend and continue to spread the Straight Red love.