Unsplash image of the Earth, mostly the nightside with a tracery of city lights on every continent.
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
This is great from Becky Sauerbrunn.
(Also very beside the point but I spy Mistborn and something from N.K. Jemison on that bookshelf)
www.instagram.com/reel/DTdNkvw...
In my longer term plan, Timber would be the first to be sold (for Gabriel) but he seems the most likely of the four to play 😂
Four defender injuries but longer term I don't particularly want to get rid of any of them.
Yeh that's very true. Those points are in the bag so even if you did get a bit "lucky" in some cases, we wouldn't necessarily expect that luck will equal out. If Watkins can start firing again and maybe Elliott or Sancho can make a contribution then you're right there's defo some upside there.
There definitely is some improvement over the season but even over this 11 game streak the xG is both 1.2 for and 1.2 against. I can believe that Emery can get better results than the data might suggest but Villa just don't seem to have any "comfortable" wins and that might catch up with them?
I really like Unai Emery but "are Villa in the title race" seems like the kind of question that will age very poorly.
The games in BC are comparatively cheap at "only" $370 for the cheapest tier, though as others have pointed out, the number of these value tickets is so limited that you'll likely need to have also paid out for a premium membership from the Canadian FA to even have a chance at "winning" them.
A "value" ticket for Canada's first game - which could be against Wales, Northern Ireland, Bosnia or Italy - is more expensive than a ticket for the semi final. BMO isn't a big stadium and Toronto has a ton of Italian fans so they will get away with the pricing but its still eye watering.
Despite living a quick ferry ride away from two host cities, I already had minimal interest in going to the World Cup given the absolute state of FIFA, but even I was shocked by the ticket prices. Not only outrageously high but also idiotically tiered.
With 5 FTs in hand, a relatively small gain from moving to Szoboszlai from someone like Minteh or perhaps Enzo (who will lose some value with Palmer returning) seems more viable than in past years and we perhaps need to adjust our valuation of rolling transfers to be more aggressive with such moves
The downside is the possible suspension (he's on 4 YC) and the remaining possibility that he could yet spend some time at right back again: I don't think Slot has really figured out how to advance the ball with or without his full backs yet. Injuries suggest he may be needed more up field though.
Szoboszlai seems like his baseline is already a solid FPL asset and you can then layer on upside in terms of more minutes in attacking positions, Liverpool as a whole improving and pulling everyone's numbers up, and even getting the odd penalty.
The level to which people conflate bad team results with bad FPL players means that managers can overcorrect against a team like LIV, who are still a plus attacking team (1.6 xG90, 6th in PL), and have some very good fixtures coming up (BHA, tot, WOL, LEE, ful, ars, BUR)
It seems to me that he is already a very solid pick and even with some time at right back, his numbers still track well against other midfielders who cost more and are receiving transfer attention right now:
A bit like Bruno F, one also likes the different routes to points here, as when Szoboszlai has played in a deeper role in midfield, he has been GREAT for defcons thanks to excellent recovery rate. Those tick down when playing on the right, but then we presumably get the higher attacking threat.
With Salah out of favour and Isak not always on the pitch, we also have the possibility of Szoboszlai taking penalties, as he did in the CL this week. I believe he is 15/16 from the spot in his career - with his sole miss coming as a 20 year old for RB Leipzig, and even then he hit the post.
That time spent at right back really suppressed his goal threat, which should tick up when deployed in central midfield (and potentially even higher if he gets minutes on the right wing). Small sample of course, but 2x shots and 4x xG suggests there is *something* there.
Table showing Szoboszlai's data when playing at right back or in midfield. The table shows that his goal threat is much higher when in midfield, although his assist threat is lower. The difference is exaggerated when we include his Champions League data alongside that from the Premier League
However, his positional flexibility (a) will help him stay on the pitch for the longer, even during the busy holiday period, and (b) has caused some noise in his data which might mean he is being somewhat undervalued. Let's split his mins between those at right back and in midfield:
Liverpool player Dominic Szoboszlai makes a "phone call" gesture after scoring a goal.
In normal circumstances I don't think I would be in a rush to bring in a player like Szoboszlai as he doesn't have a very high ceiling, his team aren't playing great (albeit still 6th in xG), and his position in the team isn't locked down.
And given the current discourse, and while we're sorting tables, who on this list is considered to be having a good season and who is considered to be an absolute disaster is interesting (recognizing that there is more to a good player than this one narrow stat)
We're still probably in small sample territory but the list of top-10 npxG+xA players looks . . . weird?
I really need to know the stories behind Vardy's popularity in Alberta, Yildiz in the Northwest Territories, and Kiwior in PEI!
Will Arnett was on Conan and told a story about how Conan dealt with the death of his parents by accusing Jason Bateman of killing them. It’s so funny.
If his fixtures were just a bit bit better I think I'd consider him over Dewsbury-Hall as I need a cheap mid for a few weeks. But Le Fée really does seem to be 2 pts or a pen.
Enzo Le Fée might be the final boss of "but he has penalties". I've barely seen him play, Review doesn't love his xMins, and his data is woeful BUT . . . he has penalties!
Love to scout new elite attacking threats for my FPL team
LOL
Semenyo is obviously a good pick, but I do feel slightly hard done by for not owning him as he continues to rack up insane production from ~solid~ underlying numbers. A goal and an assist (and presumably 3 bps) from 0.23 xG+xA tonight.
Was it a Free Hit and they activated the wrong chip?
