“The Premier League returns this week after the final international break of the calendar year. At the top, Arsenal are four points clear but have suffered further injuries, including to key defender Gabriel, before the north London derby against Tottenham on Sunday. Second-placed Manchester City visit Newcastle on Saturday evening, with Eddie Howe’s home side as close to rock-bottom Wolves in points terms as they are to Pep Guardiola’s team. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Premier League return’s predictions and storylines: Title race, relegation fight and Haaland’s goals record
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“The excitement of Jamaica potentially qualifying for just their second World Cup was palpable on the gridlocked streets of Kingston three hours before kick-off. Fans in a variety of yellow shirts, with flicks of green, creating a joyous kaleidoscope of expectation. Wafting through the air was the smell of the jerk chicken and curry goat being cooked outside the city’s National Stadium, while inside dancehall blasted over the speakers. …”
“You might walk past the International Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC) in central London a hundred times without noticing it. Dwarfed by nearby St Paul’s Cathedral, the smart office building where arbitration rooms can be hired by the day for up to £5,000 ($6,580) seems unassuming. But the IDRC has emerged as a key battleground for some of English football’s most compelling contests over the last 12 months. It is where 
Mexico after winning the CONCACAF Nations League final in March 2025
“Curacao is a Caribbean island that’s home to around only 185,000 people, and it felt like half of them spilt onto the pitch in celebration at reaching their first-ever World Cup on a dramatic night in Jamaica. They are now the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup, breaking a record previously set by Iceland in 2018. Two planes carrying Curacao’s most passionate supporters, or as captain Leandro Bacuna termed it, their “ultras”, were chartered to make sure the players would have some backing for their decisive qualifying match on Tuesday night at Jamaica’s National Stadium in Kingston. …”
Scissors Kick 