Author: Frank G. Barnes

Purveyor of footy since the 90s. Favor the Premier League and old school Serie A with a touch of Bundesliga. More than a touch. Professional writer for 20 years, covering every sport but now focused on the Premier League and world football. You won't be able to guess my favorite team.
FPL Start or Sit for Matchday 6: Danny Welbeck and Senne Lammens get hot
5Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

FPL Start or Sit for Matchday 6: Danny Welbeck and Senne Lammens get hot

Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 Premier League season is upon us as the September/October international break comes to a close. Fantasy Premier League managers are already keeping one eye open on the week ahead. Here are players worth starting and a few that need to sit. Goalkeeper Start: Senne Lammens, Manchester United Manchester United are going up against a Tottenham Hotspur team that almost never scores, shoots a lot, and takes a lot of poor-quality shots. This is a personnel problem, not a tactical one, and so it's not going to change magically just because there was a break in club football. That makes Senne Lammens a must-start for FPL owners this week. Start: Caoimhin Kelleher, Brentford Caoimhin Kelleher looked like a real star for Liverpool when he was a young keeper backing up A...
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Premier League Matchday 6 Injury Tracker: Latest News, FPL Impact on Joao Pedro, Amad Diallo, and more
4Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Premier League Matchday 6 Injury Tracker: Latest News, FPL Impact on Joao Pedro, Amad Diallo, and more

Premier League Matchday 6 is on the horizon, and it's time to track the biggest stars around the league with updates on if they will be back this weekend and, if not, when fans can expect to see them and plug them into their FPL teams. Chelsea DM Moises Caicedo Chelsea's world-class defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo has been out since the end of August with a calf injury, but his return is on the horizon. He's been resting in London over this international break, and these three weeks off football are the perfect time for him to train. As of right now, Caicedo is expected to return for Chelsea on Oct. 10 when they face Bournemouth. Many expected him to be back against Brentford before the break, but he was held out as a precaution. It would be a surprise if he didn't train and make his...
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Premier League Matchday 6 Bold Predictions: Evanilson shreds Chelsea; Anthony Elanga has the game of the week
4Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Premier League Matchday 6 Bold Predictions: Evanilson shreds Chelsea; Anthony Elanga has the game of the week

The 2026/27 Premier League season will return next weekend after the international break with Matchday 6 as Manchester City and Arsenal continue to jockey at the top of the table while Tottenham Hotspur look for their first win of the campaign at the very bottom. Before the action begins next weekend with Arsenal and Leeds, let's look at seven bold predictions for the upcoming matches. Evanilson will own Chelsea Bournemouth finished in the top six last season, and while they are in the bottom four without Andoni Iraola, they will still pose a threat to a Chelsea side that also look far away from European football themselves. Xabi Alonso has not brought the Blues forwards thus far, and their suspect back line is going to continue to struggle with a manager who has never really been able t...
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A star on every Premier League Big 6 club who would be better somewhere else
3Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

A star on every Premier League Big 6 club who would be better somewhere else

Sometimes, a player just doesn't fit a club. Even if they are a world-class footballer, they just might not fit the DNA, playing style, or manager. They may not even fit the league at all, or things have just become so corrosive over time that a change of scenery is what is needed to right the course. Here is every Premier League Big Six club's star player who would be better served playing somewhere else. Arsenal Honestly, I just don't think Viktor Gyokeres is a good fit for the Premier League. There's just not enough space for him to play in transition, which is where he was killing people at Sporting CP, and he's just not quick enough in tight spaces to get shooting opportunities off. That's a real killer for a striker who is supposed to be a real sharpshooter in the box, but he's mor...
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The biggest takeaway for each Premier League Big 6 club before 2026/27 season resumes in October
2Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

The biggest takeaway for each Premier League Big 6 club before 2026/27 season resumes in October

For the most part, where the Premier League Big Six clubs land in the 2026/27 table after five Matchdays is pretty similar to where they were last year, with the exception that Manchester United find themselves in the bottom half of the standings right now after looking resurgent last season. Tottenham Hotspur are somehow ranked lower despite playing better, Chelsea still stink, Arsenal and Manchester City are still at the top, and Liverpool are somehow falling behind the likes of Leeds. Before the Premier League returns this October following a lengthy international break, it's time to dissect the biggest takeaway from each of the Big Six clubs after five matches played in 2026/27. Arsenal I think Arsenal's biggest takeaway is that they have to be feeling pretty good about themselves...
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Every Premier League Big Six club’s best candidate to sell in the January 2027 transfer window
2Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Every Premier League Big Six club’s best candidate to sell in the January 2027 transfer window

It's been five Matchdays into the 2026/27 Premier League season, and the leading candidates to win the league are the same as they were last season and in most of the previous five seasons: Arsenal and Manchester City, with a touch of Liverpool. But the rest of the Big Six isn't even in the top six, as underdogs Brighton, Brentford, and Leeds have been flying high whereas Tottenham Hotspur are in the relegation zone again and both Chelsea and Manchester United are shaping up to be disappointments once more. Even the top teams, though, have players they might be interested in getting rid of this winter transfer window. Starting with the worst team, Spurs, and ending with league leaders Manchester City, let's take a look at the best candidate from every club to sell when the next transfer...
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Three U23 Bundesliga forwards you need to buy in Sorare Classic and why
1Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Three U23 Bundesliga forwards you need to buy in Sorare Classic and why

Sorare Classic doesn't have any financial rewards and isn't the most popular way to play the game, but it's my favorite way because you feel like a football club, "investing" in young player cards and watching them perform and develop over the years. The Bundesliga is so rife with amazing young players who are going to become household names in the future. I mean, just look at what Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham have become since leaving Borussia Dortmund. I am targeting three U23 Bundesliga forwards who I think will get serious points this season and beyond, and they are already doing great things in the 2026/27 season. Now, since prices fluctuate, I will make the prices vague and go by a maximum price point of around the most money, in US dollars, you could expect the limited v...
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Florian Wirtz is the right player on the wrong team
1Oct By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Florian Wirtz is the right player on the wrong team

Since he joined Liverpool at the start of the 2025/26 season, I don't think there has been a single player in the Premier League who has been under the microscope more than Florian Wirtz. Every single pundit seems to have a strong opinion on Wirtz, who was a multi-time Bundesliga Player of the Season at Bayer Leverkusen before he even turned 23 years old, leading Leverkusen to indisputably the greatest season in Bundesliga history as his team went undefeated in 2023/24 to break up Bayern Munich's record run of consecutive titles. (And oh by the way, his coach, Xabi Alonso, has not achieved a single thing since then.) Wirtz, though, is facing a heavy weight of expectation at Anfield, and the price tag of his transfer, an initial 100 million pounds, certainly didn't help matters. But the ...
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Cole Campbell looks like an American in the Bundesliga worth getting excited over
29Sep By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Cole Campbell looks like an American in the Bundesliga worth getting excited over

I was doing my usual periodic trolling of random games around European football, and the Bundesliga just happens to be my favorite league to check games out from because 1) their atmospheres and overall games are more likely to be entertaining and 2) you never know which breakout stars you're going to stumble upon. And I decided to check out Schalke both out of a feeling of nostalgia and a desire to look at what Loris Karius is up to these days, as well as scout up Timo Becker and Nikola Katic defensively. Schalke managed to keep the clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with new Bundesliga darlings Elversberg, but the player who jumped off the page the most to me was still an Elversberg attacker. And I couldn't help but notice their 20-year-old American left winger Cole Campbell. Now, Americans...
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Pep Guardiola’s legacy has been shattered by the Manchester City verdict
29Sep By Frank G. BarnesNo Comments
Analysis

Pep Guardiola’s legacy has been shattered by the Manchester City verdict

Pep Guardiola will always be looked at as one of the greatest managers of all time, and even if you can't stand the guy, I think it's impossible to take at least that from him. Because Guardiola not only won too much consistently throughout his career to be anything less than a great manager, but he really did change the game in terms of how teams approach possession, movement off the ball, and dominance. In a lot of ways, he set the stage for how clubs in Spain, Germany, and now England play, especially the biggest clubs in the world like Bayern Munich. At the same time, Guardiola's legacy always came with a bit of an asterisk. See, unlike the coaches he often gets compared to in debates about the greatest modern manager, namely Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp, he never actually built a...
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