Newcastle

Neymar’s return to the Seleção for a pair of September friendlies against the USMNT and El Salvador brought forth the requisite questions concerning his World Cup antics, and the Paris Saint-Germain star was measured in his response to being labelled a diver before meeting the U.S. in New Jersey on Friday. 

With the retirement of Clint Dempsey earlier this week, the USMNT lost a legend, the greatest goal scorer the country has ever seen (on the men’s side, at least). So one of the few Americans left in the Premier League decided to pay homage to the Texan, as seen with this wonderful DeAndre Yedlin goal vs Manchester City on Saturday. 

Chelsea kept pact with Liverpool and Watford at the top of the Premier League table by defeating Newcastle United 2-1 Sunday after an entirely forgettable opening 75 minutes sprang into life over the final quarter-hour.

For Newcastle supporters, the approach from Rafa Benitez harkened back to last December’s visit of Manchester City. The Magpies sat inordinately deep and ceded 81 percent of possession to the visitors while playing with five at the back and an incredibly grafting midfield pairing of Mohamed Diame and Ki Sung-Yueng. 

DeAndre Yedlin did not have a good day in Newcastle United’s season opener against Tottenham on Saturday, a 2-1 defeat. From an embarrassing nutmeg to a late Yedlin injury, the American defender will want to forget the match, though he may not get another chance on the pitch anytime soon.

ESPN released a Luck Index for the EPL, a joint project with tech company Intel that supposedly examines “how the Premier League would look if luck were not a factor.”

Conducted by England’s University of Bath, ESPN aims to both galvanize the beautiful game with this pseudo-scientific study and pollute the culture of football by turning it into a maniacal math project.

The index states the following metric as the definitive measure of luck:

Arriving in Newcastle upon Tyne as a traveler, it won’t be long until your attention is captured by the Castle Keep and Black Gate, a well-preserved medieval fortification which rises 81 feet into the air, towering over the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas to the north and the High Level Bridge running over the Tyne to the south.