The Athletic FC Podcast

Tim Spiers, in for Adam Leventhal, hosts Jon Mackenzie, Reuben Pinder, and Omar Garrick for our weekly preview of the Premier League. Matchday 10 welcomes the Manchester derby, with United welcoming their City rivals to Old Trafford. Can United repeat their 2-1 victory from last season or will City continue to expose some of their neighbour's flaws? Elsewhere there's a West London derby as Chelsea...

Two months on from his last appearance for Manchester United, Jadon Sancho seems no close to a first team return. The Athletic's Manchester United writers Laurie Whitwell and Carl Anka join Ayo Akinwolere to explain and analyse Sancho's ongoing exile with the 23-year-old currently banished from all first team involvement. As well as looking into the public fallout with manager Erik Ten Hag the pan...

After Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner and Naby Keita all left Anfield in the summer transfer window, Jurgen Klopp’s midfield required a full-scale re-build - with Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai at the heart of it. The 23-year-old is the only Liverpool outfielder to have played in all 810 minutes of the Premier League campaign so far, and is already a fan-favourite on Merseyside. Ayo Ak...

Last night, Tottenham went two points clear at the top of the Premier League, thanks to goals from Maddison and captain, Son Heung-min. Michael Bailey is joined by Charlie Eccleshare and Adam Crafton to discuss whether Spurs are title contenders or if their incredible early season form is unsustainable? Plus, Liam Tharme shares his thoughts on how Son has adapted to the No.9 role and filled the go...

On the eve of his first anniversary as Aston Villa manager, Unai Emery has Villa within striking distance of the top of the Premier League. Having returned to English football last season, following an ill-fated 18 month spell at Arsenal, Michael Bailey is joined by The Athletic's Adam Crafton and Gregg Evans to analyse the Spaniard's resurgence in the West Midlands. Aston Villa writer Jacob Tansw...

Adam Leventhal returns to preview Premier League matchday nine. The weekend starts with a Merseyside derby at Anfield. With only one win against Liverpool since 2010, can Sean Dyche’s team take advantage of Liverpool’s dodgy form in early kickoffs? Then we’re off to Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea host Arsenal. With Arsenal’s recent dominance we ask if the title of ‘biggest club in London’ has swung b...

Contracted through to 2025, there's no immediate sign of Pep Guardiola leaving Manchester City. Yet with Roberto De Zerbi taking his Brighton & Hove Albion side to the Etihad this weekend, he could outlines his credentials to succeed the Spaniard at City with Guardiola a known admirer. Adam Levethal is joined by The Athletic's Italian and German football correspondents James Horncastle and Rap...

As England secured their place at Euro 2024, we watched on in awe at another Jude Bellingham masterclass - is there a better player in world football right now? And as England boss Gareth Southgate continues to bristle at questions over his team selection and along culture war lines - has the manager’s more 'combative' character, changed how you feel about him? Adam Leventhal is joined by The Athl...

Host Adam Leventhal and a couple of The Athletic's resident gamers , Jay Harris & Art de Roché, reflect on the cultural impact, messy divorce and exciting future of FIF... EA SPORTS FC 24! Why Gianni Infantino will miss the PR cover the game inadvertently provided for FIFA and why EA were happy to go it alone. How the franchise pulled clear of rivals like Pro Evolution Soccer and their efforts...

Ahead of Manchester United’s board being set to vote on selling a minority stake in the club to British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe Ayo Akinwolere is joined by Matt Slater, David Ornstein and Adam Crafton is debate the proposal. Following Sheikh Jassim’s Qatari group claiming to have withdrawn from the process the panel analyse Ratcliffe's offer to purchase a 25% minority stake in the club, in r...

On this edition of the Weekend Preview we welcome another round of Euro 2024 qualifiers, with England potentially securing qualification if they can see off Italy on Tuesday. With the Three Lions in good shape ahead of Germany next summer, we ask the panel whether they’re comfortable with the ‘favourites’ tag and which countries fear them the most. Also, with the UK and Ireland having been confirm...

Following the release of the David Beckham documentary that everyone is talking about, Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s Adam Crafton, Carl Anka and Felipe Cardenas to discuss Beckham and how he became a global icon that broke America. We’ll also hear Adam in conversation with Paddy Harverson - former Manchester United Head of Communications, during the peak of Beckham’s celebrity. How mu...

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s Chelsea writer Liam Twomey and our tactics writer Michael Cox to reflect on the career of Eden Hazard following his retirement this week. Was he a player that didn't quite hit the heights expected or was his approach to the game - married with his undoubted ability - make his achievements all the more impressive? We detail why his dream move to Real Madri...

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by Benji Lanyado & The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas to assess how quickly West Ham have rebuilt after selling Declan Rice to Arsenal in the summer... They discuss the work that manager David Moyes has done to integrate new summer signings and doubling-down on a style of play that has led to a surprisingly strong start in the Premier League. Roshane also shares details of...

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic's Arsenal writer James McNicholas and reporter Adam Crafton following the Gunners' first Premier League win over Man City in almost eight years. The panel discuss the importance of the win over Pep Guardiola's side for Mikel Arteta before analysing Arsenal's summer transfer business and assessing whether or not it will be enough to help Arsenal leapfrog Man...

Adam Leventhal returns as he does every Friday to preview the weekend's football. The showcase this week: a clash between last season's top two, as Arsenal host Manchester City. Can Arsenal snap their 12 (twelve!) game losing streak to the Citizens? Will Bukayo Saka be fit enough to play? And could the suspended Rodri be a game-changer? These are just some of the questions Adam and co will try to...

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by Danny Donachie former Head of Medical Services at Everton, ex-Arsenal midfielder Adrian Clarke & The Athletic’s Oli Kay to discuss how elite footballers are facing the threat of injury and burnout in the ever expanding football calendar  The panel discuss the huge demands on stars like Bukayo Saka, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe playing much more...

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by Manchester United writers Andy Mitten and Mark Critchley to explore Marcus Rashford's 'streaky' goalscoring form and the weight of expectation on him at Man United... How does Erik ten Hag get Rashford back to his best, and could the budding partnership with new striker Rasmus Hojlund be the key? And after one-time United winger Wilfried Zaha returned to haunt them in t...

Ayo Akinwolere is joined by The Athletic’s George Caulkin and French football writer Tom Williams to explore some intriguing parallels between the state-backed 'projects' at both Newcastle & PSG - ahead of their hotly anticipated clash in the Champions League... Have Newcastle actually learnt from PSG’s mistakes, and, after turning over a new leaf under Luis Enrique - are PSG actually trying t...

James Pearce and Oli Kay are alongside Ayo Akinwolere to react to Liverpool's VAR-impacted defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday. Both the PGMOL and Liverpool have issued statements following Luis Diaz's first half 'offside' effort not being overturned by VAR, with the panel dissecting events around the mistake made at Stockley Park. Plus, there's analysis of the Reds' start to the s...

Adam Leventhal hosts Caoimhe O'Neill, Nick Miller, and Tim Spiers as they look ahead to match day seven of the Premier League. One game stands out among the rest: Tottenham vs Liverpool. With both teams unbeaten so far this season, we ask where the improvement in both squads has come from, and what kind of match it will produce. We also take a whistle-stop tour around some of the other fixtures, w...

Roberto Calenda, the agent of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, has threaten the club with legal action for mocking the striker on TikTok. James Horncastle and Carl Anka join Ayo Akinwolere to dissect and debate the fallout and analyse the impact the social gaff could have for one of Napoli's most prized assets. With his contract set to end it's final year in the summer, could this incident mark the...

Ayo is joined by The Athletic's Carl Anka and Simon Hughes, plus Chief football writer for Dutch newspaper AD Sjoerd Mossou, to explain how Ajax imploded - after the ugly scenes on Sunday that led to 'De Klassieker' being abandoned... The panel discuss the power vacuum left by Marc Overmars, Edwin van der Sar and former manager Erik ten Hag, and how far the club has fallen from that run to the Cha...

After Rodri's red card at the weekend, Pep's Manchester City will have to find a way to cope without the most reliable player in the Premier League... But is he more than that? With the trip to Arsenal looming, Ayo is joined by City writers Sam Lee and Mark Critchley, to talk about how the Spaniard became the lynchpin of Pep’s all-conquering champions, a sliding doors moment for Kalvin Phillips an...

David Ornstein and Art De Roche are alongside Ayo Akinwolere following Arsenal's 2-2 draw in the North London Derby at home to Tottenham Hotspur. Within the game, Gabriel Jesus missed a presentable chance to put the Gunners 2-0 up in the first half while Eddie Nketiah also drew attention later in the game too, for Mikel Arteta's men, leading to debate around whether or not Arsenal possess the fire...