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2024-25 EFL Championship Round 44 of 46: Leeds United and Burnley now back in the PL with the top prize still up for grabs

by Sports Benches

Going to be a Super Bowl race to the finish line as if it’s the big final being decided today with Leeds & Burnley now back in the PL for the 2025-26 season.

Now time will tell with their own managers in Daniel Farke (Leeds) and Scott Parker (Burnley) later this year since they were unable to make any meaningful impact so far the top level of English Soccer.

But still, it’s a season that is a lot closer than ever before from four teams down to three by mid-season and then two lately and now only one will win it all for the Championship trophy by Saturday, May 3.

All of the final round’s matches will play at the same time of 9.30pm AEST, so better be prepared for that one unless one of the Top 2 loses the next crucial game.

For Burnley, glad they will be able to keep their star assets including James Trafford and Maxime Esteve + hopefully star player of the day Josh Brownhill following their 2-1 win over Sheffield United when Tom Cannon scored the equaliser midway in the first half- a rival that they could no longer see as a threat for now unless Blades win the Play-Offs.

All Burnley can hope now is for them to not just win the last two games but also see Leeds lose either to outside Play-Off contender Bristol City and/or even survival candidate Plymouth Argyle.

Plymouth won too earlier this morning over Coventry 3-1 and looks like they’re not losing hope just yet, although not so much for Cardiff City even with another change of manager but too little, too late sadly.

Also, look out for Derby v Luton where Derby are just hanging on the slightest of margins in a race to beat the drop as well.

But at the end of the day, Leeds would have to be the one to beat considering they’ve been scoring goals quite a lot, including today’s match of their own following a whopping 6-0 win over Stoke City.

So up to Bristol and Plymouth to help Burnley out while Burnley would need to go all in even though they should not down their tools just yet v QPR and Millwall.

Because their previous games against these two sides weren’t the best unfortunately with one draw and loss but Scott Parker would love nothing more than a 100-point season and a Championship trophy that he hasn’t touched one before – at least as head coach other than as a player back in 2000 with Charlton Athletic.

It would mean the world to JJ Watt also so he can beat the 49ers in the disguise of Leeds as a Burnley investor but in the Championship, having had a decorated career as a defensive end in the NFL with the Houston Texans & Arizona Cardinals.

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EFL Championship Round 43 of 46: Burnley rebound v Watford 2-1 courtesy of a late Josh Brownhill strike but Leeds still holds the cards after a 1-0 win v Oxford

by Sports Benches

Looks like the Championship race is getting closer and closer with only three games to go but probably assume Sheffield United to be the outsider now away from the Top 2 bubble with just Leeds v Burnley despite their win over the relegation threatened Cardiff City 2-0.

Wonder if Cardiff is going to give Neil Warnock a ring in a bid to save themselves from dropping to League One (3rd tier) before it’s too late? They may have a history of promoting first-time coaches as managers but nowhere near as anything great unfortunately.

The Blades do have Burnley next up on Easter Monday, again it’s up to Burnley who do need to shuffle their No.9 a bit more off the back of their poor start at the same time v Watford – only for them to bounce back with a 2-1 win at full-time.

Yes, Zian Flemming helps being the No.10 into a No.9 but sure the team dynamic play would hopefully be enough to get past one bit of difficulty as long as Josh Brownhill continues doing deep just behind Flemming or Foster – if Scott Parker is more than brave enough to put the South African back to play with the pain up front.

If that’s not enough to maybe at least win the Championship title, Leeds kept on winning as of late with credit to their one and only first-half goal by Manor Solomon + Oxford’s toothless fight to collect goals in attack. The current leaders have three good games including Stoke, Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle much like Burnley’s last two in QPR & Millwall after Blades.

So if Leeds draw or even lose one of the next three and Burnley win all next three, it would be amazing to see Scott Parker collect all three Championship to PL promotion honours from being Play-Off winners, 2nd place (runner-up) but no 1st place trophy though…for the time being. 

Yes, would revisit Scott Parker’s PL plans later on since his record isn’t great and so does the Leeds coach Daniel Farke too when he was managing Norwich in the past but it’s all about crossing the line first ahead of everyone. So up to the players to help Scott get past that winning points edge and not both lose or draw either way.

Their players are crucial to this with PL quality price tags including keeper James Trafford despite his early 1st half mistake against Watford when he should be the one as the best shot blocker but he probably needs to calm down a bit having saw JJ Watt unable to get back on the field after James lost the season-ending bet there. 

If anything was to go JJ Watt’s way, then he could probably be the one to finally taste Super Bowl victory unlike his NFL career but in the Championship over San Fran 49ers-owned Leeds – up to Scott and the Burnley players to gift that trophy for him to celebrate as an minority investor.

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2024-25 EFL Championship Round 40 of 46: Burnley now back on top of the table with six more games to go following their 2-1 comeback win over Coventry City

by Sports Benches

Look who is first on the English Championship table with six games to go?

It’s none other than Burnley thanks to their 2-1 rebound win over fellow Play-Off contenders Coventry City thanks to a Jaidon Anthony double goal on the left wing.

Not only that, their weekend has gone to an all-time high because Oxford United defeated Sheffield United 1-0 while Leeds United were stranded by relegation battlers Luton Town with a 1-1 draw.

All Burnley has to do now is win all next six games and not boring draws or even losing it out if they possibly can since they are a point ahead of The Blades (Sheffield United) and two clear up against Leeds.

That way, they could regain Premier League status straight up as the first team to do so ahead of anyone else.

Scrambled defense being led by the starting goalkeeper James Trafford? 

Yes, but making the most out of attack? 

It has to stay that way & Scott Parker could win all of Championship’s finest of promotions from Play-Off winners to runner-up but has yet to win a Championship trophy from 1st place.

That’s something he should be looking at right this minute and then time will tell if he is able to prove himself at the top flight.

For now, they got another game v another relegation battled side Derby County on Wednesday Morning from 4.45am AEST.

They’ve been winning quite a few games up until today where Derby lost 1-0 to Swansea but there’s a good head coach out there in John Eustace, who wants to keep this club at bay away from the bottom three, having made the sacrifice to leave top-half Blackburn following a difficult January transfer activity.

But no doubt Burnley will have to fire it up like they’ve done over these past few games if they really want to keep their top players as going back to the PL helps than having to spend another year in the 2nd tier. Also, Scott Parker has yet to have last beyond his 2nd season so far as head coach from Fulham to Bournemouth – both stable PL clubs without him for years now. 

Not even the 67 days he spent in Belgium that was unfortunately cut short at Club Brugge back in early 2023 & they’re sitting third in the Champions Play-Off fight.

So up to Scott now to make things count starting next week.

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2024-25 League Cup Final: Newcastle United break their 70 year wait for a Domestic Cup trophy following their 2-1 win over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium 

by Sports Benches

It’s been 70 years since Newcastle United won a domestic trophy that went way back as the 1954-55 FA Cup season and now that long wait has now finally come to a close thanks to their 2-1 win over Premier League leaders Liverpool in the League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. 

They’ve been so dominant all along with two goals coming from centre-half Dan Burn and star No.9 Aleksandar Isak, although Liverpool scored one back but then that was a consolation one towards the final whistle by Federico Chiesa.

Don’t get me wrong, they are a mega rich club indeed under Saudi Arabia ownership since late 2021. But still, they have all the money and power to get back to where they want to be – and that is by regularly competing at Top 4-6 every season while they look to make a statement in Europe. 

Well, they are going back to the UEFA comp after all with Conference League qualification now guaranteed. However, they are currently flying high though in 6th on the ladder & if they finish 6th and above at season’s end, they too could play in the Europa League instead or even Champions League again like it was two seasons ago back in 2023-24. 

That means, the 7th best PL team would take Newcastle’s spot for Europe’s 3rd tier competition in their place.

Don’t forget they’ve previously been at Wembley with the same League Cup Final a little over two years ago – that didn’t go well v Man Utd 2-0 but now they’ve gone one better as congrats once again including to one of England’s finest head coach/managers in the country in Eddie Howe.

Plus, shoutout to Toon supporter Adam Peacock too and he’s currently the host of Stan Sport’s UEFA club competition coverage with Craig Foster & Mark Bosnich.

Sure we will see him on the screens of Nine soon when each of the Grand Finals from Champions League to Europa and Conference level will be around sometime in late May.

And on Liverpool, not their day today as Arne Slot still doesn’t have a trophy yet as this is his first season in the hot seat following the departure of long-time manager Jurgen Klopp at Anfield. Although that can wait since they are leading the PL but with Cup competitions, not so much until at least next season….for now.

One thing Liverpool could’ve pulled off there is if they had at least a few more of their own kids from the academy on the biggest stage at least in men’s soccer like they did in last year’s League Cup Final v Chelsea. 

Shame it wasn’t worth the risk to go a bit braver this time when Newcastle’s starting XI was full of more established stars instead and they were the team to beat unfortunately at the end of the day.

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2024/25 EFL Championship: Leeds leave it late to spur an amazing comeback that also extends their lead up front against 2nd-placed Sheffield United by 3-1 at Bramall Lane

by Sports Benches

So there you have it, Sheffield United thought they could stop the clear 2nd tier leaders as of late in Leeds United thanks to a Leeds own goal by lIlan Mesiler (GK) earlier on – and have led the way 1-0 for the most part until Leeds struck back this late on their opponents’ hallowed turf (Bramall Lane) with 15-20 odd mins to go thanks to three stunning late strikes that secured yet another win by 3-1.

Gotta say the Blades have came a long way from minus two points to challenging at the top end of the table but they’ll just have to find another way now since Sheffield United were unable to hold off their 1-0 lead when Leeds have been searching with attacking intent all game long.

Which other team is gonna try and stop them in its tracks now that Leeds have gained another few points up front? 

We started the new season back in August 2024 with 2-3 teams closely trying to snatch that elusive first spot where one of them will not just be crowned the Championship winner but also regain Premier League status for next season (2025/26) come May.

Now looking at February 2025 as of Matchday 34/46, it seems that Leeds have set the benchmark once again tonight even though they nearly had all game to connect the dots, and they did that successfully with all the time they’ve got left to lock this game up with the win.

Meanwhile, if Burnley win next time around v relegation battlers Cardiff City and Sheffield United lose, then looks like hope is not lost after all when it comes to reclaiming 2nd off Sheffield United by a two point difference. Although there’s a still long way to go as they are currently eight points behind Leeds – despite the way they play is based on defensive football rather than the bang, bang attacking ones that Leeds are so happily craving right now.

If Leeds win the title with Daniel Farke onboard for the third time coming, good for him as no can do for others trying to stop them – just wait and see how they go in the PL and he hasn’t been that great at the bottom end of the table unfortunately not once but twice after topping the Championship with Norwich City all those years ago.

Next up, Leeds will go back home at Elland Road at the same time this weekend v West Brom & Sheffield United travelling to London against Queens Park Rangers while Burnley look to go into the sixth round of the FA Cup comp v fellow Lancashire team in Preston North End.

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EFL Championship 24/25: Burnley continues to draw again this time against Preston North End from the weekend 0-0

by Sports Benches

Another week, another draw other than the win last week v one of the relegation contenders Hull City via their own goal and Burnley hasn’t scored one in a while.

This goes on from the weekend following a 0-0 draw against fellow Lancashire and North side Preston North End at Deepdale.

Now they are five points behind Sheffield United who continued to keep on winning on 70 if not eight points if Leeds United go on to beat Sunderland come tomorrow morning, who has been in free-scoring form over the past 2-3 weeks, and there they are now keeping up with the Championship table after Round 32 of 46.

Although do understand how much Burnley wants to hold on their rock-solid backline that is built around star keeper James Trafford despite starting to slip away from the Top 2 automatic spots. 

Maybe they want to keep that good build up base after all & not bother about the Championship table but if Burnley do miss out Top 2 & go into Play-Offs, this could turn out to be a dangerous game that could see them miss out on a last-chance promotion back to the Premier League. 

However, Leeds and Sheffield United haven’t been consistent though when being tested in the top flight. So this could be one reason as to why Scott Parker (Head Coach) would may as well look to play it safe going into the 2025/26 season.

That is when his biggest test will come into play having only last two full seasons at Fulham back in 2019-21 as well as a season and a bit (2021-22) with Bournemouth – all of which were Premier League promotions during his first year in charge before things came to a crashing end. Don’t forget he did have a spell over in Belgium with Club Brugge but then his time was sadly short lived after 67 days.

It would be great if he can find a way to get them scoring again but I guess he wants to look at something long-term when it comes to stability just like Sean Dyche did throughout the past decade, even though his tactics are dull just like Parker and somehow this could pay off – both getting out of the second tier at first before going on to become a consistent Top 10-15 side in the Premier League. 

For now, Burnley’s next game will be against Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday morning not far within the North at their home ground (Turf Moor).

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2024-25 EFL Championship 29/46: Burnley hold out another draw this time against another title contender in Leeds United

by Sports Benches

Another week, another draw between two of the Championship title contenders in 3rd-placed Burnley & 1st-placed Leeds United at Turf Moor. The good news is that Burnley is still three points away off top spot with Sheffield United standing in the way by one place & point behind in 2nd, so still plenty of time as of Matchday 29/46 + a bit more if they end up outside the Top 2.

It would be awesome if Scott Parker can add that Championship trophy to his silverware cabinet like the Leeds manager (Daniel Farke) has done twice before when he was managing Norwich City (although his record at the PL wasn’t great much like Parker) so he can complete his hat-trick of Championship honours 1 (champion), 2 (runner-up), 3 (play-off winner).

However, it’s been frustrating and insipid at times when it comes to Burnley’s final third attacking play unlike Leeds and even Sheffield United except their defensive record including the goalie James Trafford is ever so strong. They wish they could do that more often like the Plymouth Argyle game last week 5-0 but then Burnley would rather hope for the best for a draw, especially when it’s against a top side.

Yes, the January transfer window isn’t the best time as always but it can also be a good time to make a few changes that could hopefully help them with the distance on the road towards May & be accepted back in the Premier League. 

So far two of the signings they made were free transfers on short term deals with another being a young right back from Denmark while a few have already left to get more minutes on-loan.

They could’ve also done any better when it comes to signing right winger Morgan Whittaker who did extremely well at Plymouth Argyle last season but again, it seems Burnley weren’t serious enough to get over the line at all and Middlesbrough won that race instead. Although you can tell he had attitude issues having declined to play v Burnley the other day just 48 hours before he joined Boro for £6m + another £2m in add-ons.

You never know what could happen like they did by surprise lately going into deadline day. Even if they don’t sign more after January 31, maybe giving Mike Tresor a chance initially as a sub in the second tier while starting out for their next FA Cup game v Southampton would be great – as he still has something to offer despite his setbacks in last recent months.

Burnley will be back a few days later this weekend on the road to Fratton Park v Portsmouth and Leeds return home at Elland Road v 18th-placed Cardiff City.

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2024-25 EFL Championship Match 27 of 46: Burnley sees off 0-0 draw thanks to James Trafford’s back-to-back shot-stopping saves v high-flying Sunderland AFC at Turf Moor

by Sports Benches

Well, Burnley may have been gone into the weekend with some signs of relief despite their 0-0 draw v Sunderland, with thanks to super towering goalkeeper James Trafford, who saved not one but two late penalties against opposing striker Wilson Isidor, as hats off to the club’s strongest defensive efforts + Trafford hands down.

While Isidor was disappointed not to push Sunderland back closer towards the Top 2 when he tried to score a few times even during penalties, Burnley needs to keep Trafford at all costs for at least the next one-and-a-half years, as we do understand his ambitions to play for a Top 6-7 Premier League club like Newcastle United at some point. We know Sunderland has been like this season so far under new coach Regis Le Bris and even though they may have slipped away a bit outside the Top 2 automatic spots, they’re still flying high especially when they gave a good scare against the Burnley defense in attack. 

What Burnley could’ve done better though is the way they attack on their own which can be frustrating at times. Like nothing against Zian Flemming (currently on-loan) who can give his fans some really good moments every time he knicks a goal, but it seems he would be better off behind the striker at No.10 rather than lead the line (No.9). At the end of the day though, Scott Parker continues to be happy with his striking options, especially wanting to do things differently as their head coach.

Maybe Burnley should think about that instead with only a week and a bit to go in the January transfer window, although they might as well another Championship-quality winger in Morgan Whittaker from Plymouth Argyle as their primary signing target. So a new striker may not be necessary when they aren’t a prolific scoring team – that’s okay. However, injecting more pace into the final third though would probably be a game changer – as long as the tactics are right.

For now, they are joint leaders with Daniel Farke’s Leeds United on 53 points; Although not for long with Leeds United most likely going to beat Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow morning & so would Sheffield United v Norwich City. That means, Burnley would be in 3rd but still there’s still a fair bit of work to do if they wish to dominate the Championship – they’re currently 3 points shy off top spot. 

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Thoughts on David Moyes coming back to Everton with a huge relegation battle alongside a brilliant list of strikers he will inherit that will suit his tactics perfectly to a tee

by Sports Benches

It was great to hear for some section of Everton fans welcoming back David Moyes as manager of the club who previously had a successful 11-year spell from 2002-13 before he moved onto Manchester United in place of the retired Sir Alex Ferguson that didn’t work out unfortunately after 7-8 months followed by a couple of unsuccessful stints across Real Sociedad in Spain as well as relegating Sunderland, although he redeemed himself at West Ham over the last few years with a succession of Top 10 finishes plus a Conference League trophy – despite the fact his tactics nowadays is deemed unacceptable when fans prefer entertainment that requires their team to attack more, score goals and go all in rather than hoping for the best by full-time.

But he has worked wonders once before on a limited transfer budget and surely he can do so once again with the expected relocation to the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium around the corner come next season regardless of their league status. But his first job is to help Everton stay up and not get relegated once more as they are currently sitting just one point above the bottom three in 16th place with a game to spare behind most other clubs. Like what we saw with West Ham’s Graham Potter whose first game was against Aston Villa last night in the FA Cup which was an unlucky 2-1 early-exit loss, David’s first game is also against Villa but this time in the Premier League on Thursday morning at 6.30 am AEDT.

One thing for sure when he comes back to Finch Farm first thing on Monday next week is that he will have a good group of physical-minded strikers that suit his system well – something he could not make the most out of his second West Ham stint that saw him left his previous job back in May last year from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Armando Broja (the one he previously kept tabs with when he was flying high on-loan at Southampton two years ago whilst being West Ham boss) and even Beto.

Wow! What a time to be alive when his strikers doesn’t have to be prolific but can play a key role for the team’s sake if he can look to steer clear of the bottom three by locking up mid-table between now and this May and the best part about his return today is that he will be contracted with Everton again for a maximum of 2.5 years unless things go wrong badly along the way.

It remains to be seen what his wish-list is going to be like this January transfer window as well as the summer if he can keep them up but remember, he has been dithering with players he’s after as always before which will be a concern Everton fans and directors alike will have to live this again. At the end of the day, all he wants to do is put Everton back on the map like it was last time by challenging Top 6-8 regularly alongside an extended Cup run while we could see him challenge at least in the UEFA Europa League once again, so he can try to succeed with the 2nd-tier European trophy next time around.

That’s why he’s onboard to try make things happen once again off the back of the club having new owners recently and Sean Dyche reached his celling the other day. For now, best of luck as welcome back to “The People’s Club” at Goodison Park and potentially the brand new Everton Stadium at the Bramley-Moore Docks.

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Thoughts on Valencia CF unveiling a major set of announcements today with Nou Mestalla now good to finally finish off the works through June 2027 

by Sports Benches

Today’s the day Valencia CF has finally resumed their long-awaited works of the Nou Mestalla venue when construction was suddenly stopped due to financial problems coupled with ownership changes since 2009 having originally promised to get things done throughout the last decade.

But hey, following a host of revisions even as realistic as possible through ways and means, Valencia sought some much-needed funding lately from Goldman Sachs with their refinancing deal as well as La Liga’s minority shareholder CVC.  

Now it’s on the club to turn this around from an abandoned field into a state-of-the-art stadium that everyone has been long waiting for having first announced their plans to move from their still current Mestalla venue nearly 20 years ago (2006).

Yes, have heard a few times about Nou Mestalla being able to host the World Athletics Championships by building a large surface over the lower-tier stand in order to make an oval running track and then break it down by going back into football mode once it’s over – take note of that West Ham with their London Stadium from the 2012 Summer Olympics as they can still host Athletics but maybe make the permanent lower-tier structures more closer to do with Football.

However, it’s still too way early to say other than a bare-bones like structure they’ve built so far between 2007-09; if so, the earliest they could do is years after the FIFA World Cup during the 2030s.

So much has been happening since then but good to hear that Valencia CF is still on track in spite of their current league position (19th) as well as their poor owners who doesn’t seem interested in this project by choice but decided to finish off the project anyway out of necessity where die-hard fans still want Peter Lim and his group to go home in Singapore.

Not only the machines have now arrived back into the half-built building, the club also unveiled a logo for the new stadium itself including a 3D model version too for those who want to see it and it’s free of charge anytime between 9-5 weekdays.

Then we’ll see once the works are finally done by the summer of 2027, we could see Nou Mestalla being named one of the final venues for the co-hosted 2030 World Cup by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

It’s still early days yet again but at such a crucial time when there’s a World Cup around the corner, Valencia has taken the first step once more with a still a long way to go before they can feel like home at Nou Mestalla in the hope of challenging Real Madrid & Barcelona for silverware domestically again + European Football.

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