The English Premier League is undoubtedly one of the most exciting leagues in football. After a six-week hiatus as a result of the World Cup tournament, Premier League returns to our screens, and the race to the title, top four, and avoidance of relegation continue. It’s different battles for different teams in the league. Arsenal remains first in the league, five points clear of second-placed Manchester City. These teams so far are the bonafide contenders in the English Premier League this season as the battle for the title continues. 

What are the Latest Premier League News?

Here we look at the happenings in the premier league ahead of the return to action on Boxing day.

Arsenal Suffers A Huge Title Blow?

The recent World Cup injury to Gabriel Jesus’ knee could impact Arsenal. The Brazilian striker only had five goals in 14 Premier League games before the break, but his impact on Arsenal’s performance since moving from City has been profound. Other players have stepped up in scoring, but it will be difficult to replace everything else Jesus brings. Gabriel Jesus’ return date is unknown. Therefore, Arsenal may need to hunt for a substitute striker during the January transfer window.

Brentford’s Talisman’s Scandal

Brentford is 10th in the Premier League, and they might be in trouble if the accusation against their star forward Ivan Toney is proven right. According to the charges, the English striker is accused of breaking 30 additional FA betting rules. The striker might receive a lengthy suspension if the accusations are true. Given that he has been involved in 11 of Brentford’s 26 goals across all competitions this season, the Bees will likely be keeping an eye on how the situation plays out.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Signs Matheus Cunha

The Wolves are last in the Premier League table, and they will take some consistent performance to get out of the relegation zone. They have taken a step in the right direction by signing Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha from Atletico Madrid. Cunha has scored seven goals in 54 games for Atletico. Due to his little playing time this year, he was left off the Brazil World Cup roster. After selecting former Spain, Real Madrid, and Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui as manager, Wolves, who are now last in the Premier League standings with 10 points from their first 15 games, will be hoping that the forward can produce the goals necessary to avoid relegation.

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Premier League Returns 

The Premier League returns on the 26th of December 2022, and we will witness the infamous boxing day fixtures. Sadly, there are no heavy-weight matchups on boxing day, but we will look at key matches and make previews and predictions.

Brentford Vs Tottenham

On Boxing Day, the top-tier domestic football returns, and Brentford will host Tottenham in West London. After pulling off an unexpected 2-1 victory over Manchester City in their final match before the World Cup, Brentford will be eager to continue where they left off.

While Spurs have only won two of their previous five away games, Brentford is a strong team in front of their home crowd, scoring 12 of their 19 goals. The Bees are by no means easy prey, but the Spurs never give up hope of scoring. The Premier League schedule’s opening game is expected to be an exciting one. This match has the potential for both teams to score. 

Arsenal Vs West Ham

With a win in north London, the Gunners can take an eight-point lead in the title battle. Before losing to Juventus in a friendly match during the World Cup break, Arsenal defeated Lyon and AC Milan in Dubai. West Ham drew with Fulham after defeating Cambridge and Udinese, and David Moyes was under increasing pressure to recover from a shaky start.

West Ham has historically feared Arsenal, but the visitors should present a challenge for a squad without its top attacker. However, the Hammers’ offensive shortcomings will limit their prospects of a surprise. The pick here is a win for Arsenal by a small margin. 

Chelsea Vs Bournemouth

Watching Chelsea and Bournemouth square off against one another will be amazing. The Blues are on the mend, and the Cherries are fighting to stay in the top division. Both teams are in hazardous situations, with a spot in the Champions League or a safe spot on the line in the middle of the league. Chelsea narrowly defeated Bournemouth in their most recent meeting, which was played to a close result. However, so far this season, the Blues have outperformed Bournemouth. As a result, Chelsea has a higher chance of achieving victory.

The Premier League will see plenty of action, but these picks are specially made for our new and old bettors for maximum returns. 

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All good things must end, and that’s the tale of the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament. It indeed was a beautiful ending as Argentina and France gave their best performance in what could arguably be one of the most entertaining finals in the history of the World Cup. Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi was the name on every football fan’s lips at the end of the finals as the curtains were drawn on the tournament. Here we will look at how the finals went and how Argentina eventually won the World Cup in Lionel Messi’s era. 

Match Result

The game started with a high tempo, with the Argentines dominating and retaining ball possession. France was outplayed entirely, but they maintained their shape and resisted the pressure. However, in football, there’s a limit to which you can just keep defending the ball. 

Regular Time: 2-2 

• In an abysmal performance and probably his worst in France’s colors, Ousmane Dembele was responsible for Argentina’s opener as he fouled the tricky Angel Di Maria in box 18. Lionel Messi stepped up to the task and sent Hugo Lloris the wrong way to give Argentina the lead. 
• France just couldn’t get a break in this game. In the 36th minute, Argentina’s counter-attack, initiated by Lionel Messi, led to an Angel Di Maria goal, which meant France was down by two goals before the close of the first half. At this point, it looked like Argentina was destined to win the trophy, as France was playing without desire. 
• Before the close of the half, France’s coach, Didier Deschamps, made bold decisions by taking out Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele. However, Dembele’s substitution was justified as he was the worst player on the pitch. Giroud’s removal was questionable, as he was France’s second-highest scorer in the competition. Kolo Muani and Marcus Thuram replaced Dembele and Giroud.
• The second half was different, we saw a more balanced game, and France saw more of the ball and kept pushing. Yet in another audacious move, France’s coach removed Theo Hernadez and took out the under-performing Antoine Griezmann for Eduardo Camavinga to put more bodies in the midfield where they were being outplayed and Kingsley Coman for more attacking threat. 
• France finally got a legitimate chance at goal when Argentina’s defender Nicolas Otamendi fouled Kolo Muani in the penalty box, and the referee pointed to the spot. 23-year-old Paris Saint Germain forward Kylian Mbappe stepped up and converted the spot kick beautifully to bring France within a goal. 
• Barely a minute later, Kylian Mbappe again orchestrated a one-two play and converted a beautiful volley beyond Emiliano Martinez’s reach to put France level. This goal changed the game completely, giving the French nationals hope for a back-to-back World Cup win. 
• The Argentines handled the pressure well and made some attempts at the goal at the death of the game, which was foiled by either poor finishing or a brilliant stop by the French defenders and goalkeeper. France held the fort and pushed the game to extra time.

Extra Time: 3-3

• Both teams made some changes in the first half of the extra time, and it paid off for Argentina in the 109th minute, when Lionel Messi pounced on a Lloris spillover from Lautaro Martinez’s shot to put Argentina ahead.
• The French did not allow this to dampen their feelings as they kept mounting pressure on Argentina. It finally paid off in the second half of the extra time when a penalty was awarded to France for Gonzalo Montiel blocking Kylian Mbappe’s shot with his arm. 
• Kylian Mbapper converted the spot kick to make it his third of the game and consequently brought the game to level terms. Both teams made last-gasp efforts to prevent the game from going to a shootout, but it was inevitable as the game ended 3-3 at the end of the extra time. 

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Penalty Shootout: 4-2, Argentina Won On Penalties

• Kylian Mbappe was the first to take the spot kick, and he converted it; despite Emiliano Martinez getting his hands on it, it wasn’t enough to deny the Frenchman. 
• Lionel Messi similarly scored his penalty as he tucked it in the center, while Lloris’ last-gasp effort to change direction was futile. 
• Kingsley Coman was next in line for France. He attempted a low shot, which Martinez saved. 

• Paulo Dybala, who barely got minutes in the tournament, was next to play the spot kick for the Argentines and converted it calmly. 
• Aurelien Tchouameni missed his spot kick widely and ultimately blew the French’s hope of winning the trophy. 
• Leandro Paredes scored his penalty kick for Argentina to put the Albicelestes upfront by two. 
• Kolo Muani drove his kick down the middle to give France a glimpse of hope.
• Down to the deciding kick, with pressure on Lloris to make a save to give France a lifeline in the shootout, Gonzalo Montiel sent Lloris the wrong way to win the World Cup for Argentina.

The game ended 3-3 at the end of regular time and 4-2 on penalties.

Half A Goal predicted correctly that Lionel Messi would score or assist, while Kylian Mbappe was also tipped to score.

It was a beautiful scene to see Lionel Messi finally win the much-coveted trophy, which completes his career and puts him in the G.O.A.T status (Greatest Of All Times). Kylian Mbappe, who emerged as the highest goal scorer in the competition with eight goals, is the next big thing in football. Lionel Messi emerged as the player of the tournament; Emiliano Martinez won the golden glove, while Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernadez was the young player of the tournament. 

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All good things must come to an end. For a tournament that occurs once every four years, it’s understandable why there’s so much emotion, as the last game of the tournament will be played on the 18th of December at the Lusail stadium. Two teams have had to overcome a series of challenges to get to this point. Argentina and France are the teams that made it to the 2022 FIFA Qatar World Cup finals. We are sure of an exciting game owing to the character of the teams involved. Argentina overcame an early scare in the tournament to become one of the best attacking teams in this year’s tournament, while France has lived up to expectations at every point of the tournament. 

Road To The 2022 World Cup Finals

Here we will look at both teams’ journey to the finals, from their first group game to the semi-finals. 

Argentina 

If you look at how Argentina kicked off the tournament, it’s incredible how they bounced back from an early scare in their opening game and remained consistent to make it to the finals. Suffering defeat at the hands of the second-lowest ranked team in your opening game in the World Cup is quite demoralizing, but the Argentines took motivation from that and surprised the whole world with their reaction. Here is how Argentina progressed to the Finals.

• Argentina’s opening game, as mentioned earlier, was against the second-lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Saudi Arabia. They suffered a 2-1 loss, to everyone’s surprise. Lionel Messi opened the scoring via a penalty, but the Arabians responded with two goals in the second half to win the game. 
• Next up, Argentina was up against Mexico and won by two goals to nil for their first points in the group.
• Another 2-0 win against Poland secured Argentina’s spot as the group leader to progress to the round of 16.
• Argentina was up next against Australia in the round of 16. They defeated Australia 2-1 to progress to the quarter-finals
• Argentina now faced the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Messi gave Nahuel Molina the assist for his first-ever international goal as Argentina took the lead. Messi converted a penalty kick in the 73rd minute to make it 2-0 for Argentina. To keep the Netherlands within striking distance of Argentina, 2-1, substitute Wout Weghorst breached the Argentine defense and pierced the goal. He scored again late in extra time to force extra time and ultimately force penalties, which Argentina eventually won 4-2.
• Argentina played former World Cup finalist Croatia in the semi-finals. Lionel Messi led Argentina to a 3-0 win over Croatia. He scored and provided two assists as he was involved in all three goals for the Argentines. It’s noteworthy that Julian Alvarez scored two goals, including a beautiful solo goal in the game. 

France 

France faced a lot of adversities heading into this tournament. A number of injuries hit them before the tournament began. Besides their dynamic midfield duos of Paul Pogba and N’golo Kante, who were not registered due to injuries, Christopher Nkuku and Karim Benzema suffered injuries in training a few days before the tournament. However, The French’s depth was enough to compensate for the lack of such key figures in the squad as they cruised to the finals. 

• France opened the tournament with a win over an emphatic 4-1 win over Australia. 
• They went on to win their second group game 2-1 against Denmark. This was enough to secure qualification to the round of 16. 
• In a game that did not affect their qualification hopes, France lost their third group game by a goal to nil to Tunisia. 
• France was up against Poland in the round of 16, and they cruised past them, winning three goals to one.
• France played England in the quarter-finals, and a second-half Harry Kane penalty miss ensured their progression to the semi-finals. France opened the scoring, but England got a penalty to bring the game to level terms. Giroud, in the second half, put the French team up front, proving decisive. 
• France was up against the dark horse of the tournament Morocco in the semi-finals. In the first half, the reigning champions took the early lead in the game via AC Milan’s defender’s strike, Theo Hernadez. The French did well to fend off Morocco’s attack to bring the game to level terms, and Hugo Lloris was key to that as he made quite a number of impressive saves. A Kolo Muani second-half goal was enough to secure the win for France, who will now make a back-to-back finals appearance. 

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Match Prediction

Argentina has the heart and drives to win it all; you can see it clearly in Lionel Messi. His body language shows how much this means to him, and we may be seeing a side of him he had never shown since the beginning of his career. What the French team has is experience. They have been here before and have several players from the last group that won the trophy in 2018.

The French team has a solid defense, and the attack is probably in contention with the Argentines for the best in the tournament. While Messi might seem destined for ultimate success, this French team will be tough to beat.

Also, Argentina greatly depends on Messi, which is a weakness. France might survive the Argentine storm on their way to a third World Cup victory thanks to their apparent incapacity to panic and evident firepower. The pick here is for France to win but by a thin Margin. 

For player props, Mbappe should get on the scoresheet, while Lionel Messi also tends to thrive on the biggest of stages. Messi to score or assist is the second pick for player props. 

The tournament is not the easiest to predict. Argentina winning will be the perfect tale to Lionel Messi’s career as the World Cup is all he needs to etch his name in the history books as the greatest player ever to grace a football pitch. Meanwhile, for France, it’s the birth of a new footballing legend at a very young age.

Kylian Mbappe is the man in question, and at the young age of 23, two World Cup trophies would be insane. However, this prediction favors the more experienced team, which does not depend on a one-person wonder to win games. 

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