Did anyone expect Spurs to play really mature, sensible football and beat Liverpool without conceding a goal? This was a very impressive display from them, though the referee’s decision not to dismiss Lucas Bergvall may have been more important than his dalliance with the tannoy…Julian Lopetegui has been put out of his misery at West Ham. The decision was finally reached on Wednesday after the poor man was made to take a morning training session. Roshane Thomas is here to tell us if it was the right decision or not. And remember how Barcelona were going to lose Dani Olmo for nothing? Not anymore. The Spanish government has stepped in and he can play again. Pol Ballus explains what just happened.Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James Pearce, Jack Pitt Brooke, Roshane Thomas and Pol BallusProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arsenal sent the xG meter past the three goals mark, but Newcastle were far more ruthless in front of goal and they have just secured a huge victory in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals. Can Arsenal turn it around at St James Park? I don’t fancy their chances…What’s the latest on Julien Lopetegui? We speak to our West Ham man Roshane Thomas.And it’s the first Heavy Metal Football…statistics of the season. Are Brentford all they’re cracked up to be? The numbers shed some doubt…Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jordan Campbell, George Caulkin, Roshane ThomasProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arsenal fans seem a little nervous right now and I can understand that. Newcastle stand between them and a first cup final since 2020, and the Magpies are in fine form. But former Gunner Adrian Clarke is very optimistic…AC Milan looked dead and buried in Saudi Arabia, but Christian Pulisic led a heroic comeback to secure Super Coppa success against Internazionale. Greg O’Keefe was watching that for us. We’re really going to have to start taking Nottingham Forest seriously. They are the real deal. Matt Davies Adams joins us to explain why. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ve got David Ornstein discussing his fascinating interview with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. How did we fit all this into just ten minutes? Scissors. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Adrian Clarke, Matt Davies Adams, Greg O’Keefe and David OrnsteinProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Liverpool were supposed to give Manchester United the spanking of a lifetime, but they only escaped with a draw because a last gasp opportunity fell to Harry Maguire. What went wrong, we ask James Pearce, while pivoting skilfully to ask Laurie Whitwell what went right for United. And seriously, what is the deal with Dani Olmo? Can he leave Barcelona for free now? We asked Pol Ballus who patiently explained…yes. Yes, he can. We’ve got all the big scores and stories from around Europe, including a fine performance from Roma in the derby against Lazio and, as an avatar of our gently tweaked format, we ask Seb Stafford Bloor about this young goalkeeper that Spurs have just signed. Listen now (or later, we’re not fussy, it’s your life) and remember to follow, subscribe, review, rhapsodise or simply enjoy on your own terms.Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James Pearce, Laurie Whitwell, Pol Ballus and Seb Stafford BloorProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The night started slowly in north London, but those who exercised patience reaped the rewards. Tottenham were 3-0 up against Manchester United, all but set for the Carabao Cup semi finals, when Fraser Forster decided to make the game a little more interesting with two terrible errors. Jay Harris has the story of the rest of the night. In Europe the Conference League league stage concluded. Chelsea were unsurprisingly top but there was still some fun to be had. Lucy Oliva was at Stamford Bridge to watch the Blues walk to their sixth victory of the campaign so far.And Everton’s takeover by The Freidkin Group finally went through. There is a new hope on the horizon on Merseyside. Paddy Boyland has all the details.Christmas reading hereHost: Abi PatersonProducer: Tom Fuller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There were no surprise results in the League Cup, but there were some surprising moments. Crystal Palace led Arsenal for fifty minutes at The Emirates before succumbing to a Gabriel Jesus hat-trick, Southampton pushed Liverpool all the way in a closer-than-you-might-expect 2-1 defeat. But there was no surprise in Brentford losing away at Newcastle because for some reason Brentford seem to lose rather a lot of their away games. We’ve got an update on the Marcus Rashford situation, we’ve got most of the scores from Europe (Spain started late and played havoc with our deadlines) and we’ve got the last of the WCL Group Stage, it’s all here on the penultimate show of 2024.  Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jordan Campbell, Gregg Evans, Chris Waugh, Mark CritchleyProducer: Tom Fuller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yep, those A22 guys are back with a new idea for ruining football. And it’s really quite something. Ninety six teams in four divisions that are split into multiple splinter divisions, all attempting to reach some sort of knock out round. I’ll level with you, I’m not a fan. There’s been a lot of news today. There’s the Mudryk banned substance story, there’s Marcus Rashford announcing that he’s ready for a new challenge, there’s the FIFA Best Awards, there’s Ronaldo running for President. No, not that one. The original one. Plus, we’ve got the scores from the WCL and news of a rare not-draw for Juventus. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Si Watts, Max MatthewsProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fifteen years ago, Bournemouth were in the fourth division, or League Two in the parlance of the youth. Now they’re sixth in the Premier League and we’re almost at the halfway stage. Out there somewhere is a kid who started supporting them in 2009 and that kid must think that life is always like this. I don’t know whether to envy him or pity him.You can pity Lazio. They got done 6-0 at home by Internazionale. And you can pity Trabzonspor, who conceded a 98th minute winner to Galatasaray. Actually, Jose Mourinho will probably be more bothered by that one. We’ve also got the latest on Wolves and Southampton as they seek to find new managers. And we check in with the boys from the Talk of the Devils podcast as they look ahead to a very big cup tie this week. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jacob Tanswell, Laurie Whitwell, Ian Irving, Carl Anka and David OrnsteinProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If I was Pep Guardiola’s friend, I honestly don’t know what I’d say to him. I’d probably just buy him a big drink and let him speak when he’s ready. City weren’t particularly good at the Etihad, but they had the better of a low quality tussle and, 1-0 up with two minutes left, they would have expected to win it. Listener, they did not win it. Carl Anka has been telling us for weeks about Amad Diallo. He was right. But if Pep had a bad day, what word do we use for Russell Martin? His Southampton side were 3-0 down after 14 minutes and ended up losing 5-0. Can he survive the weekend? Gary O’Neil didn’t at Wolves. Plus we’ve got all the scores and all the stories from across Europe, including a very odd weekend in Spain and Bayern Munich’s first league defeat. It’s all in your special 15minute weekend round up edition. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Jay Harris, Matt Davis Adams and Si WattsProducer: Si Watts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

And they were very fortunate to do so. Jack Pitt Brooke was watching and he thinks Rangers should have been out of sight of Spurs long before they scrambled back into the game to rescue a point. He’s right too. All of our reporters were in cold places for this episode. Carl Anka was shivering away in the Czech Republic watching Man Utd fight back for a crucial Europa League victory. But the -1 he experienced there was positively balmy compared to the -8 that greeted Lucy Oliva in Kazakhstan. So we’ve got all of the scores and the standings and we’ve even got a nice preview of the weekend fixtures. Come on in. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jack Pitt Brooke, Carl Anka, Lucy OlivaProducer: Tom Fuller Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices