MATCH! -julkaisun 5 September 2023 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

GONZALO MONTIEL Sevilla to Nottingham Forest Loan AARON RAMSEY Aston Villa to Burnley £12 million HANNES DECROIX Anderlecht to Burnley £3 million FLYNN DOWNES West Ham to Southampton Loan DJORDJE PETROVIC New England Revolution to Chelsea £12.5 million TYLER ADAMS Leeds to Bournemouth £20 million HAKIM ZIYECH Chelsea to Galatasaray Loan ALEKSANDAR MITROVIC Fulham to Al-Hilal £50 million TIM KRUL Norwich to Luton Undisclosed TOM DAVIES Everton to Sheffield United Free transfer MOHAMMED KUDUS Ajax to West Ham £38 million KIERAN TIERNEY Arsenal to Real Sociedad Loan CAMERON ARCHER Aston Villa to Sheffield United £18.5 million NATHAN TELLA Southampton to Bayer Leverkusen £20 million…

3 SEA SONS IN THE BUNDESLIGA! STAT ATTACK 16 He became the most expensive Japanese arrival in Prem history at £16 million! 2.1 He averaged 2.1 tackles per game in the Bundesliga last season for Stuttgart! 4 He played in all four of Japan’s World Cup 2022 games after having failed to appear at the 2018 tournament! FACT PACK Country: Japan Caps: 50 DOB: 09.02.93 Height: 5ft10in Previous clubs: Shonan Bellmare, Urawa Red Diamonds, Sint-Truiden, Stuttgart Boots: Puma Future PLAYS LIKE SANDRO TONALI If you compare Endo’s stats with Tonali’s from last season, you’re basically looking at the same player! They’re both hardworking defensive midfielders who also have the ability to set up attacking chances with their vision to find forward passes. Plus, both players are real leaders and role models…

1 FIRST GREEK PLAYER TO REPRESENT WEST HAM! STAT ATTACK 7 He made seven Premier League appearances for Arsenal between 2018 and 2022! 4 He scored four league goals in 2022-23, which isn’t bad for a CB! 4.1 He won 4.1 aerial duels per league game last season and made 2.3 interceptions per game – more than any other Stuttgart team-mate! FACT PACK Country: Greece Caps: 19 DOB: 11.12.97 Height: 6ft 4in Previous clubs: PAS Giannina, Arsenal, Nuremberg, Stuttgart Boots: adidas X PLAYS LIKE NIKLAS SULE Mavropanos is a beastly centre-back who’s going to love getting on the end of James Ward-Prowse’s corners! The 6ft 4in CB bosses aerial duels like Sule and is also a really decent distributor of the ball – he can pick out a team-mate with a forward…

CYPRUS v SCOTLAND Friday 8 September, 7.45pm Group A leaders Scotland have started the qualifying campaign on fire and this game is a wicked chance for them to strengthen their grip on one of those top two spots! Cyprus sit bottom of the group and have let in eight goals in three games, although they almost got a draw v Georgia in June. Steve Clarke will just want three points! REP. OF IRELAND v NETHERLANDS Sunday 10 September, 7.45pm The Republic of Ireland’s 2-1 loss to Greece in June hurt their chances of finishing in the top two, but there’s still tons of footy to be played! The Aviva Stadium will be bouncing for the visit of the Netherlands, who have a much stronger side on paper and need to…

HOW TO VOTE! Go to the MATCH social media channels now and you’ll see two shortlists – one for Player Of The Month and one for Goal Of The Month. Then just vote for your choice. Well easy! HAMER The Sheffield United new boy scored a stunner v Nottingham Forest from outside the penalty box! DIAZ His tekky finish v Bournemouth showed Reds fans what they were missing while injured in 2022-23! BISSOUMA The Tottenham midfielder prduced consecutive MOTM performances in August! MITOMA The Brighton winger’s solo goal against Wolves summed up his magical month. Take a bow! THE RESULTS! We’ll reveal the winners in our next issue!…

28 CAPS FOR ITALY’S YOUTH TEAMS! STAT ATTACK 2 In 2019, he became the youngest-ever Italian to score twice in a Champo League match! 128 He played 128 times in all competitions for Italian side Roma! 5 He averaged a goal every other game for Galatasaray last season, scoring five times in ten league appearances! FACT PACK Country: Italy Caps: 13 DOB: 02.07.99 Height: 6ft 3in Previous clubs: Virtus Entella, Inter, Roma, Galatasaray Boots: Nike Mercurial PLAYS LIKE DEJAN KULUSEVSKI We can see similarities between Zaniolo and Spurs star Kulusevski! Both are left-footed attacking midfielders who excel when playing off the right wing, cutting in on their stronger foot to cause havoc. They’re both really technical players who will help create chances and maintain possession! STORY SO FAR The ex-Roma star…

17 AGE OF HIS SENIOR CHELSEA DEBUT! STAT ATTACK 11 He played 11 times for Chelsea’s first team in 2022-23 across all competitions! 25 He’s earned over 20 caps for England’s youth teams! 1 He made his England U21 debut in June 2023 during a behind-closed-doors friendly match against Japan at St. George’s Park! FACT PACK Country: England Caps: 0 DOB: 08.09.04 Height: 5ft10in Previous clubs: Chelsea Boots: Under Armour Clone Magnetico PLAYS LIKE OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO Just like Arsenal’s Ukraine baller, Hall can play in defence or in midfield! They’re both really technical left-footed players who are comfortable receiving the ball under pressure and maintaining possession. Hall also has the ability to whip a cross from the left wing like Zinchenko! STORY SO FAR Hall joined Chelsea’s academy at Under-8 level…

LATVIA v WALES Monday 11 September, 7.45pm The Dragons would definitely take a repeat of their 1-0 victory over Latvia from March in this tricky trip to Riga! WOLVES v LIVERPOOL Saturday 16 September, 12.30pm Wolves thrashed Liverpool 3-0 at home last season to record their first league victory over The Reds since 2010-11! EVERTON v ARSENAL Saturday 16 September, 5.30pm Everton are on a five-game unbeaten PL home run against Arsenal, beating The Gunners 1-0 in their February H2H! BOURNEMOUTH v CHELSEA Sunday 17 September, 2pm The Nicolas Jackson derby sees the striker face the side he almost joined back in the January transfer window! SOUTHAMPTON v LEICESTER Friday 15 September, 8pm This is these two sides’ first meeting in the Championship since 2011-12, when The Saints got promoted…

100 Erling Haaland has now scored 100+ goals in Europe’s top five leagues! 10 Bukayo Saka is one of three players with 10+ goals and 10+ assists in the PL since the start of last season! Deportivo Saprissa, Costa Rica’s most successful club, were named after Ricardo Saprissa who sponsored their first-ever shirts. Weird! 23 Wolves’ 23 shots was the second most in a Prem away game at Old Trafford since those stats began! 25 Only Chelsea, back in November 2005, have attempted more shots in a PL game away against Man. United – they also lost 1-0! 5 Andre Onana is the fifth African GK to have appeared in the Prem! France midfielder N’Golo Kante owns Belgian third division side Royal Excelsior Virton! 20 Ashley Young and Sean Dyche…

2.1 TACKLES PER PREM GAME IN 2022-23! STAT ATTACK 16 Age when he joined Man. City’s academy after impressing Pep Guardiola at a youth tournament in Belgium! 2004 He was the first player born in 2004 to score in the Premier League! 1 He earned his first senior Belgium cap in March 2023’s friendly win over Germany! FACT PACK Country: Belgium Caps: 1 DOB: 06.01.04 Height: 5ft11in Previous clubs: Man. City, Southampton Boots: adidas X PLAYS LIKE FERNANDINHO Lavia once said in an interview that his football idols are Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets and his former Man. City mate Fernandinho! We can definitely see that he bases his game on their styles, although he probably plays more like Fernandinho as he’s a better ball-winner than the Spain midfielder! STORY SO FAR…

£55M FEE MAN. CITY PAID RENNES TO SIGN HIM! STAT ATTACK 8 He got eight league goals and assists combined in 2022-23 from 29 appearances! 96 He completed 96 dribbles in Ligue 1 last season, second in the charts behind Leo Messi! 60 His 60% dribble success rate in Ligue 1 in 2022-23 was actually even better than the Argentina legend! FACT PACK Country: Belgium Caps: 14 DOB: 27.05.02 Height: 5ft8in Previous clubs: Anderlecht, Rennes Boots: Nike Mercurial PLAYS LIKE KINGSLEY COMAN Just like Coman, Doku is a rapid winger who can beat anyone with his quick feet and dribbling ability! The Belgium youngster needs to add a few more goals and assists to his game to reach world-class level, but he’s already one of the best one-v-one dribblers in Europe’s…

HEROIC HOSTS! Co-hosts New Zealand were huge underdogs against Norway in the tourno’s opener, but they showed epic courage and commitment to win 1-0 through a well-worked team goal! HISTORY MAKER! South Korea’s Casey Phair became the youngest-ever player at a Women’s World Cup in their loss to Colombia! The forward, aged 16 years and 26 days, was introduced as a 77th-minute substitute! SAMBA STAR’S TOP TREBLE! Ary Borges marked her WWC debut with a hat-trick as Brazil began the tournament with a 4-0 victory over debutants Panama. She also produced an ace roll-back assist in what was a wicked team goal! E.T. PHONE HOME! Germany captain Alexandra Popp bagged a brace in her side’s opening win over Morocco but it was one of her goal celebrations that caught the…

WOLVES v LIVERPOOL Last season’s surprise thrashing definitely won’t be repeated! MATCH SAYS 0-3 YOU SAY FULHAM v LUTON Fulham thrashed Luton 7-0 back in May 2022! This will be tighter… MATCH SAYS 1-0 YOU SAY TOTTENHAM v SHEFF. UNITED Spurs will pick up from where they left off at the Tottenham Stadium! MATCH SAYS 2-0 YOU SAY EVERTON v ARSENAL The Toffees’ impressive Goodison Park run v The Gunners ends now! MATCH SAYS 0-2 YOU SAY ASTON VILLA v C. PALACE Palace haven’t won at Villa Park since 2013 – that’s a shocker! MATCH SAYS 1-0 YOU SAY MAN. UNITED v BRIGHTON We fancy Brighton to come away with something at Old Trafford! MATCH SAYS 2-2 YOU SAY WEST HAM v MAN. CITY West Ham have drawn three of…