Almost two years ago today, Norway international Omar Elabdellaoui went blind in a firework explosion.

11 surgeries and 13 months later, he returned to the pitch for Galatasaray. Kate catches up with him about his incredible journey since that New Year’s Eve in 2020 and how he is seeing football – literally – with new eyes.

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With the new year around the corner, it’s time to reflect, spend time with our loved ones… and suggest some of the worst format changes to football imaginable!

Marcus, Luke, Pete and Jim hammer out their new year's resolutions for football in 2023 and hear some of your suggestions! Piers Morgan banned from all sport, anyone?

Listen to our Guide To… Football’s Original Rules for more madcap ideas that *actually* happened. Believe us, the officiating has improved since 1863…

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Last night, we lost one of football’s true greats as Pelé passed away at the age of 82.

Marcus, Jim and Luke relive his legendary international career, his complicated relationship with Santos as he grew into football’s first global celebrity, and his lasting importance to football – and sport – itself.

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Marcus, Luke and Andy look ahead to a bumper weekend of Premier League action, as Nottingham Forest search for a striker down the back of the sofa and Erling Haaland picks up where he left off. 

Elsewhere, Emi Martínez is back for the revenge match that nobody wanted, while a former England manager has apparently been visited by the ghost of his father - have a guess which one. 

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Marcus, Luke, Jim and David kick off the new year with a slice of familiarity, as Antonio Conte continues to moan about a lack of Spurs signings while the rot sets in and Ivan Toney continues his goalscoring shithousery. 

Elsewhere, the David Moyes Gloom hangs over West Ham while Arsenal have one hand on the Premier League trophy - sixteen games in. Get the ticker-tape! 

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This weekend sees the return of perhaps the most enjoyable fixture in the English football calendar: it's the FA Cup third round!

Marcus, Luke and Jim are here with your definitive guide to the showpiece of the oldest cup competition in world football. From the tournament's unique traditions and quirks to some of its most celebrated moments and notable cult heroes, it's truly one of our favourite things in football. So point a glitzy Premier League team in the direction of your local mud bath, fetch a ball from the gardens over the road and join us! 

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Jules, Jim, Pete and Lars choose violence today - just like Newcastle last night.

They discuss Mikel Arteta’s latest touchline antics and Cristiano Ronaldo’s unveiling, where everything went to plan apart from forgetting which country he was in. Plus, crises galore! Everton and James Tarkowski head slide into their latest disaster, while Liverpool continue to labour and Antonio Conte continues to Antonio Conte.

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Dotun and Andy are joined by Nicky Bandini to chew over the return of Serie A, where Napoli’s unbeaten run at last ground to a halt!

We discuss whether this is a sign of things to come as teams struggle to return to form after a World Cup and winter break. Elsewhere, PSG also taste league defeat for the first time this season – and Lens bossed it – and it’s a tale of three marquee strikers in Spain!

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Marcus, Pete , Jim and Andy are here to preview that most wonderful time of year: FA Cup third round weekend, baby! 

While Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr debut descends into chaos, we hear about scores being settled at Stevenage vs Newcastle in 2009, Accrington Stanley’s war with the council, and Vinnyball at Burnley! Plus, some not-so-bright ideas from Crawley Town’s resident crypto bros and – as usual – Jamie O’Hara!

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Goalkeeper with most WSL clean sheets 2022? Arsenal Women’s Zinsberger, of course. by Michelle

Manu Zinsberger signed for Arsenal in May 2019 from German side Bayern Munich.  She was awarded the WSL Golden Glove Award in the 2021-22 season and she has kept 8 cleans sheet in the 2022-23 season so far.  There is much speculation around Arsenal goalkeepers at the moment, due to the imminent arrival of 29 year old Canadian international Sabrina D’Angelo.

No goalkeeper in the #BarclaysWSL registered more clean sheets in 2022 than @Manu_Zinsberger (13) @ArsenalWFC pic.twitter.com/Id1kDWgg5E

— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) December 28, 2022

Let’s take a look at Zinsberger in action so far this season:

There have been millions of column inches dedicated to Arsenal’s attempt to persuade Shakhtar Donetsk’s owners to let Mykhaylo Mudryk move to the Emirates for a reasonable price this month, and now the agent of the Ukranian star has publicly reported that there is very little chance of an agreement being reached.

He says that the two clubs are so far apart in their valuations that he has practically given up hope of Shakhtar listening to reason in January.

His agent Igor Kryvenko has spoken to Footboom about the situation and the news is not positive in the slightest…

When asked what the chances were of Arsenal getting the deal over the line, he said: “Minimal. Shakhtar won’t let Mudryk go for the money they (Arsenal) are currently offering.”

He then heavily criticized Shakhtar for their totally unreasonable valuation of Mudryk. He continued: “A player from the Ukrainian championship cannot cost more than, for example, a player from the Netherlands. You have to look at things realistically. There is a market value, and Shakhtar seem to be taking figures from the ceiling.”

Arsenal Women 2nd incoming international confirmed – Danish international Kathrine Kuhl by Michelle

Arsenal have just confirmed signing 19-year-old Danish international midfielder Kathrine Kühl from FC Nordsjælland. She is recognised as one of Europes greatest young talents. There has been a tough battle for her signature, including interest from Chelsea FC.

Still only 19 years old, Kuhl has 21 caps for Denmark and has been touted as Denmark’s next superstar with former coach Everton Women’s Brian Sørensen saying on analyticsfc I have not met anyone who is as determined as Pernille Harder. But compared to the tools that Pernille had at that age and that Kathrine has now, I think Kathrine is better technically. She has the potential to be one of the best interiors in the game.

Let’s take a look at Kathrine in action below.

Arsenal Women target 19 year old Danish midfielder Kathrine Kühl

There is obviously massive problems with Arsenal’s pursuit of the Ukranian winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, and according to the most recent news it looks like the Gunners have hit a brick wall according to Mudryk’s agent, so surely it now makes sense to concentrate on other more realistic targets, because the fact is that Mikel Arteta still needs a much bigger squad to continue challenging on all fronts.

The other big rumour involving Arsenal at the moment is the possibility of getting Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix, who may be very expensive but is a more experienced and proven performer than Mudryk at the moment, and the Arsenal oracle David Ornstein thinks that Mikel Arteta may move on and try and complete this deal first.

“It will be interesting to see if Arsenal look to bring forward some business or get some other business done first,” Ornstein said on NBC Sports.

“They are interested in Joao Felix at Atletico in a loan deal. If the numbers come down significantly from where they are now – and that’s why it’s not happening right now – then perhaps they’ll try and get that one in first. And that will take the pressure off them in the Mudryk pursuit.”

It is probably a very good idea for Arsenal to take a step back and reassess their options in the light of the latest news, and one thing is for sure, Joao Felix would also be an excellent addition to the squad for the rest of the season….

Giving Benjamin White his Flowers by Taku

Paying £50 million for a relatively inexperienced defender, from a recently promoted club is rarely ever a bargain, even when so called ‘British Tax’ is taken into consideration. However, with every passing match, it is increasingly looking like Edu and his team may have made out like bandits.

Suffice to say, there were a fair number of skeptics who—quite reasonably—questioned the wisdom of spending such a large amount of money on a defender who was, and perhaps still is, largely unproven. This article will go into the reasons why Benny Blanco is well on his way to proving the skeptics wrong.

Whilst it is important to take an insightful look into his statistics to further back this claim, it is worth mentioning the eye-test. And as the adage goes, ‘do not lie to your eyes.’

Whether it has been teaming up with Saka to torment Tottenham’s left-hand side with fantastic ball control, line-breaking passing, and intelligent movement; strategically sinister little trips to nip a potential counterattack in the bud on a couple of occasions; or throwing his body in the way of Reid’s stinging shot heading for the bottom corner, he has quietly become one of our most consistently exceptional players. All this, by the way whilst playing ‘out of position’.

Arsenal Women’s 2023 squad is starting to shape up rather nicely by Michelle

The January transfer window started on 1st January and runs until 31st January.  So far we’ve had Jordan Nobbs leave our Gunners, opening up a midfield slot ahead of the announcement that Dutch international Victoria Pelova’s signed for Arsenal and only today another signing confirmed.

1st January Transfer window commences

5th January Midfielder Jordan Nobbs leaving Arsenal for Aston Villa

6th January Dutch international midfielder Victoria Pelova signs to Arsenal from Ajax

In 2019, Arsenal was certain they needed to sign a reliable winger, so they scouted the market and returned with Nicolas Pepe, whom they paid Lille £72 million to sign.

It is worth noting that Pepe had 22 goals and 11 assists in 38 league games the season before joining Arsenal, and many wanted a piece of him, but Arsenal won that race. Unfortunately, we all know the story: Pepe never lived up to the expectations placed on him at Arsenal, and until he left for a loan move to Nice last summer, Arsenal fans were still waiting for him to recapture his Lille form.

Arsenal may need to pay a lot to bring Mudryk on board, just like they did for Pepe. Two “mega” bids from the Emirates haven’t sealed the deal, and with Chelsea now in the picture, they may need to break their £72 million expensive-buy record to bring Mudryk from Shaktar.

Looking at the figures being floated for Mudryk’s potential transfer to Arsenal, Dean Jones has hinted that Arsenal must be careful not to repeat a Pepe-like signing in which they pay big money for a player who fails to find his brilliance at the Emirates. “They’re in a situation where they’re being forced to pay over the odds for a player, and they’ve got to be very, very careful here,” said Jones on Give Me Sport.

“I think for a long time, £65 million has generally been the figure I’ve been hearing that Arsenal wouldn’t want to be going over for this player. And I think we have to make comparisons to when they bought Nicolas Pepe, and they overpaid for him, and it didn’t work out.

The debate over whether Eddie Nketiah is ready to lead Arsenal’s attack in the months ahead before Gabriel Jesus returns isn’t going away any time soon, at least not while the transfer window is still open.

Some believe Arteta simply needs to go out and sign a reliable striker to lead their attack in the absence of their injured number 9. So far, all of Arsenal’s attacking transfer links have mentioned Mykhailo Mudryk as a possible new signing. Is Mudryk a natural striker? He isn’t, which raises the question of whether Arsenal signing him will fill Jesus’ void.

Arteta looks for Nketiah and gives him a massive hug 🫂 pic.twitter.com/UX27FQFtOf

— Gilles (@_Grimanditweets) December 31, 2022

Other than Mudryk’s swoop, there’s a feeling Arteta may need to move for a striker. Some transfer links name Atletico Madrid striker Felix as a player who could join Arsenal on loan, but Felix’s links are fraught with uncertainty, leading one to believe his swoop won’t happen.

Arsenal has the best chance of winning the Premier League title in 18 years this season. After 17 games, the Gunners have 14 wins, 2 draws, and 1 defeat, putting them at the top of the table with 44 points.

Arsenal are favourites to win the Premier League title this season, but there are some doubts. One major question is whether they have what it takes to beat Manchester City.

Manchester City trail Arsenal by five points, but they are far from out of the title race. The good news is that Arsenal has an excellent opportunity to deal with City. The two teams have yet to meet, but Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal can handle the defending champions in this game. The Liverpool legend believes Arsenal will beat City in the two key games that he feels will decide the Premier League title.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher said: “Watching Arsenal the other night (against Newcastle), I just felt they needed to relax. There so long to go in the season and when you’re talking about Man City can win so many games in a row, that’s what Arsenal have virtually done in the last sort of two or three months before the World Cup. I think they’ve only dropped points in three games, that is some going.

“I think a lot of it will come down to the two games against Manchester City. If Arsenal want to win the title, they have to take four points off Manchester City I’d expect, and that would put them in a great position.

William Saliba’s return by Dan Smith

If Mikel Arteta feels the need to rotate his squad due to three games in 8 days this festive period, then fine.

If our manager wants to play Rob Holding on to Boxing Day and save William Saliba for the two (on paper) tougher fixtures, okay.

If he wants to protect Saliba from the yellow card which would rule him out for the trip to Brighton, that makes sense.

What I don’t want to hear is that our defender is unavailable this Monday due to a ‘rest’.