Fear not – you no longer have to back Mozambique to nick a late winner against Kenya – the Premier League is back from its international break.
Instead, you can lose money on teams you know more about, with all of the unofficial ‘big six’ clubs unusually taking to the turf on Saturday. Without further ado, here’s the fourth edition of Premier League Bingo…
Gary Lineker slyly mentioning John Motson’s retirement news on Match of the Day
Such is the sometimes cringy, cheesily playful character of Lineker, he adores including surreptitious hat-tips to events of the week in his hosting of Match of the Day. This week, BBC’s Attenborough of football announced he’ll retire from the gantry at the end of the season. So look out for a sheepskin coat-orientated gag before Brighton v West Brom comes on at a time most probably near midnight.
Sky Sports white collars realising they’ve genuinely got to churn out an hour’s worth of content for ‘The Debate’ every weeknight
The whole Sky Sports channel shuffle has been superb on the whole, and the Premier League channel’s ‘The Debate’ looked a tasty prospect; shows such as Monday Night Football exemplify the high-end punditry available on Sky. However, after 60 minutes of watching Craig Bellamy and Roy Hodgson amicably lock horns, you do begin to question your capability of day-to-day decision-making.
Phil Jones picking up an injury
Seems about time.
De Boer “to meet with the board” after losing to Burnley
The Crystal Palace boss has unfortunately fuelled the “what does [insert foreign manager with an impressive record in less competitive European leagues] know about the Premier League?” argument with his shaky start, and pressure is building. A loss to Burnley could lead to “meeting with the board”, which means: you’re getting fired. Who knows, it may be best to push De Boer out. Like ‘the boat’? No? Forget it.
Conte sounding like Alan Pardew in his post-match interview
During the international break, the Chelsea manager was caught scouring the pages of an English football phrase book with those dashing blue eyes of his. Hopefully, he’s learnt the main pointers: “we was” instead of “we were”, “he done” instead of “he did”, and “we’re just taking every game as it comes”.
Dele Alli making some sort of mock middle-finger celebration
It seems England isn’t able to produce a barnstorming young talent without an ounce or two of pugnacity, and Dele certainly has that. His middle finger gesture, which he claimed was aimed at teammate Kyle Walker despite suggestions it was towards the referee, gave a day’s meat for the hyenas of sport broadcasting to feast on. If he notches against Everton, why not up the stakes and chuck out a wrist-based gesture?
@_AdamPowers
Last gameweek’s bingo card.
