The Double Pivot: Soccer analysis, analytics, and commentary

Mike and Michael are at the Statsbomb conference in London. They talk through some of the highlights of last weekend's matches in the Premier League and then discuss what they saw at the conference and the new key concept in soccer analytics introduced by Thom Lawrence, "The Valley of Meh" and what it means for understanding the game.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

A Manchester United - Arsenal match seemed to confirm every one of our priors about these two teams. But is something wrong with City? Why are Liverpool a bit less good than they seem? My god what is happening with Spurs? Mike and Michael start to reconsider Spurs and Chelsea while holding the line on the rest. Plus more of the same questions from La Liga, while Real and Barcelona continue not to whelm us.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Teams outside the top two in the Premier League may just be mailing it in and playing the kids this season. Chelsea vs. Liverpool was an interesting watch, and Leicester City showed its best lineup against Spurs, Other things are happening, too! This is just part one!Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

For subscribers at patreon.com/doublepivot we have a two-part (p)review, where we cover our eight Champions League groups, by way of discussing the matches in the first round on Tuesday and Wednesday, and what to expect in the groups over the next few months.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Yeah so Man City lost to Norwich City. We get into what happened and what it could mean as we survey the weekend's results in the Premier League and ask if the table is already shaking out about the way we expected? Leicester, Wolves, Spurs, Norwich, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea all covered.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Mike and Michael are joined by the New York Times' Astead Herndon, a national political reporter and Tottenham Hotspur fan. The conversation winds from Americans finding their Premier League team to polling analytics and diversity in media, back around to why Michael and Astead still feel good about Tottenham this season.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

The North London derby provided all the insanity it normally does, and weird come-from-behind results echoed the sentiment around the league. That all leads the two Mikes to ask what we really know about the Premier League this season after four matches. Then, their attention turns to all the giants having a hell of a hard time getting going in La Liga, Serie A and the Bundesliga. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

A chronological tour of the weekend's Premier League matches. There were many things to talk about, it was a chance to expand from our top six discussion of last week to look also at the middle of the table and below and see what we're expecting from everyone after a few weeks of matches.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

City vs. Spurs was weird, Wolves vs. United was boring, Chelsea vs. Leicester was confusing, and Liverpool vs. Arsenal could get wild. To close the episode out as a teaser to Serie A talk on the premium side, the two Mikes pen their usual love letter to Atalanta.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show

Is Chelsea in crisis? Is Mancheter United great now? Are Liverpool and City running away with the league? We pump the brakes a lot, it's the first week. We have questions about Chelsea but they weren't 0-4 awful. We still don't know what United's midfield is, and Liverpool and City were weirdly not their best. Then Caley takes you on a tour of Broadway musicals and ancient feminist hymns.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSupport the show