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[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

🍺 WE’RE BUILDING SOMETHING NEW AT PINT & POST: THE REGULARS.

Some teams aren’t just passing through.

They’ve got a stool at the bar.

Spurs. Barcelona. Bodø/Glimt. New England Patriots.

These are the teams we’ll be following properly throughout the season — every game, the important news, transfers, injuries, tactical talking points, predictions, post-match analysis and all the things everyone else seems to miss.

Not just what happened.

Why it happened. What it means. And what comes next.

And now we want to know:

Which team should become a Pint & Post Regular next?

Football, NFL, rugby — we’re open to suggestions.

Drop your team below or send us a message.

If enough of you want them at the bar, we’ll pull up another stool. 🍺⚽🏈

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

Exactly — and that’s the bit which makes this fixture much more interesting than the raw form suggests.

Models can account for home and away performance. They’re much worse at accounting for a “home” game suddenly losing almost every advantage that normally comes with being at home.

That’s the sort of wrinkle that can turn an obvious pick into a much more awkward one. 🍺⚽

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

🍺 WE DID TELL YOU...

This morning’s The Second Round asked whether the bookies were pricing Alexander Isak’s average game rather than THIS game.

His return to St James’ Park.
In Liverpool red.
With 52,000 Geordies waiting for him.

So we went:
💷 £5 — Isak fouled 1+ @ 1.83 ✅
💷 £2.50 — Isak fouled 2+ @ 5.00 ✅

He has been fouled exactly twice so far.

£7.50 staked. £21.67 returned. Both bets landed.

That 5.00 wasn’t a random punt.

The story gave us the angle. The market gave us the price.

That’s exactly what The Second Round is supposed to find.

🍺 Consider this our first official “we bloody told you so.”

The original Second Round here 👇

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

🍺 THE SECOND ROUND: SUNDAY MINI

You’ve got a whole Sunday of sport ahead of you.

We’ve done the digging so you don’t have to.

⚽ Isak returns to St James’ Park in Liverpool red
😬 City have something to prove
📝 Villa might need Emery to take the register
👀 The sporting event almost everyone’s sleeping on
🔵🔴 A new Barça era begins — and yes, I’ll be watching
💷 Plus, the rather interesting place we put the beer money...

What to watch. Why it matters. What everyone’s missing.

And occasionally, where we’d put a tenner.

https://t.co/7naVpvPTXs

The Second Round: Sunday Mini — out now on Pint & Post.

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@FCBarcelona @PintandPost for the full preview.

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

⚽ MATCH PREVIEW: ELCHE v BARCELONA

Finally.

Barça are back. 🔵🔴🍺

The champions begin their title defence a week late after their opening fixture was postponed.

🟢⚪ ELCHE

They’ve already played.

And they took a point from a 1–1 draw at Deportivo, while sticking to the brave possession-heavy football that kept them alive last season.

The problem?

They lost their three leading scorers over the summer.

Not ideal before Barcelona turn up.

Still, at the Martínez Valero, they’ll try to play.

And fair fucking play to them for that.

🔵🔴 BARCELONA

Back-to-back La Liga champions.

And now the chase for three begins.

There are absentees.

Rodri isn't ready, Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji are injured, and Balde and Casadó are also missing.

But look at the attacking options Flick has brought anyway.

Lamine Yamal. Raphinha. Karim Adeyemi. Anthony Gordon.

That'll do.

👀 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

How quickly Barça find their rhythm.

A lot of these players have had very little proper pre-season after the World Cup, so expecting peak Flick-ball immediately would be optimistic.

But Elche giving Barça possession could become dangerous very quickly.

🔮 PINT & POST PREDICTION: ELCHE 1–3 BARCELONA

Maybe a rusty 20 minutes.

Maybe Elche give us a scare.

Then the quality takes over.

3–1 Barça.

And if Lamine starts the season doing something completely f#cking ridiculous, nobody should act surprised. 😂🍺

@elchecf @FCBarcelona

Elche? Barça? What are you going for? 👇

🕣 20:30 BST

Team news to follow when the XIs drop.

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

⚽ MATCH PREVIEW: TORINO v AC MILAN

New season.

New manager.

And Milan begin at a ground they traditionally seem to enjoy about as much as a root canal. 🍺🇮🇹

🔴 TORINO

Ignazio Abate takes charge of his first Serie A game.

Against Milan.

Of course he f#cking does. 😂

Torino have looked decent through pre-season and have been particularly awkward for Milan here — the Rossoneri have won only twice in their last 13 Serie A visits.

Giovanni Simeone remains the obvious goal threat.

And Torino will absolutely fancy this.

🔴⚫ MILAN

Welcome to Serie A, Rúben Amorim.

Milan have spent heavily and Gonçalo Ramos should lead the line, with Modrić still pulling strings behind him.

But it isn't a full-strength squad.

Rafael Leão is out, while Tomori, Fofana, Santiago Giménez and Nkunku haven't been included amid transfer situations.

So there’s plenty new here.

And plenty still unresolved.

👀 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Whether Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 works immediately.

Milan have quality.

Torino have the ground, history and absolutely nothing to lose.

Could be a cracking game.

🔮 PINT & POST PREDICTION: TORINO 1–2 MILAN

I'm backing the extra Milan quality.

Just.

2–1 Milan.

But I wouldn't put the kettle on expecting a comfortable evening. 😂🍺

@TorinoFC_1906 @acmilan

Torino? Milan? What are you going for? 👇

🕢 19:45 BST

Team news to follow when the XIs drop.

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@PSG_English @PintandPost for full preview

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

⚽ MATCH PREVIEW: RENNES v PSG

Well this is a slightly unusual one.

PSG were supposed to be at home.

Then their pitch became literally unplayable.

So everybody’s off to Rennes instead. 😂🇫🇷

🔴⚫ RENNES

Suddenly, opening night is at Roazhon Park.

Not a bad little bonus.

And Rennes know they can hurt PSG because they beat them 3–1 here in February.

Their pre-season hasn't been particularly convincing, but tonight they'll have a home crowd and absolutely nothing to fear.

🔵🔴 PSG

Still massive favourites for Ligue 1.

Still ridiculous amounts of quality.

But they haven't exactly cruised into the new season.

They beat Aston Villa in the UEFA Super Cup, then lost the Trophée des Champions to Lens.

And now their opening league game has unexpectedly become an away fixture.

Luis Enrique probably didn't have that on the summer planning spreadsheet.

👀 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

How seriously PSG feel that change of venue.

Rennes will press them, the crowd will be lively and PSG haven't looked completely untouchable recently.

But eventually?

The attacking talent should tell.

🔮 PINT & POST PREDICTION: RENNES 1–2 PSG

Not comfortable.

Not particularly pretty.

But PSG 2–1.

Rennes make them work for it before Paris eventually do Paris things. 🍺

@staderennais @PSG_English

Rennes? PSG? Another upset incoming? 👇

🕢 19:45 BST

Team news to follow when the XIs drop.

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@acmilan @PintandPost for the full preview.

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

⚽ MATCH PREVIEW: FROSINONE v JUVENTUS

Welcome back to Serie A, Frosinone.

Your first game?

Juventus.

Lovely. 😂🇮🇹

🟡🔵 FROSINONE

Promotion means the Benito Stirpe will be absolutely rocking.

And Frosinone haven't come back up merely to make up the numbers.

They’ve broken their transfer record to bring in Romano Schmid, who should become the creative hub behind the forwards.

Home crowd. Opening day. Juventus visiting.

They’ll believe.

⚫⚪ JUVENTUS

Last season?

Sixth.

Which at Juventus is generally considered somewhere between disappointing and a criminal offence.

So more than €100m has been spent trying to fix it.

Randal Kolo Muani returns as the main striker and will start, while new goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario is also set for his debut.

This is a stronger Juventus squad.

Whether it is a properly good Juventus team remains to be discovered.

👀 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Kolo Muani.

He wanted the Juve return.

They spent heavily to make it happen.

Now he gets a promoted side on opening night.

No pressure then.

🔮 PINT & POST PREDICTION: FROSINONE 1–2 JUVENTUS

This could be uncomfortable for a while.

But Juventus should eventually have too much quality.

2–1 Juve.

Probably with enough drama to remind everyone why supporting Juventus is rarely relaxing. 😂🍺

@juventusfc @juventusfcen @Frosinone1928

Frosinone? Juve? What are you going for? 👇

🕠 17:30 BST

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@juventusfcen @EASPORTSFC

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@juventusfc @EASPORTSFC @easportsfcit

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

“Sport can’t be predicted.”

Well… it can.

It just can’t be guaranteed.

There’s a rather important difference.

Brighton DNB ✅
Bournemouth +2 ✅
Brighton @ 2.10 ✅
Man City 2–1 @ 8.00 ✅

The unpredictability is precisely what makes prediction interesting.

And statistics don’t remove the romance from sport.

Sometimes they just tell you how bloody unlikely the romance was. 🍺⚽

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@GerardZA @premierleague @BHAFC Got you now!

😂 Very good!

Although given the way Brighton played, DI Grace might have had to investigate what happened to Villa. 🍺⚽

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@espn

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

@LaLiga @DAZN_ES @VillarrealCF

[Pint & Post @PintandPost]

⚽ MATCH PREVIEW: ATLÉTICO MADRID v VILLARREAL

Interesting.

We’ve got the teams.

And Atlético’s XI has made this considerably less straightforward than it looked an hour ago. 🍺🇪🇸

🔴⚪ ATLÉTICO MADRID

They started with a 2–0 win over Málaga, although both goals came late and the attack wasn’t exactly purring.

Today Simeone has made some big calls.

Julián Álvarez and Álex Baena are both on the bench.

Instead, Lee Kang-in and Ademola Lookman lead the attack, with Hjulmand, Koke and Rodrigo Mendoza involved in midfield.

That’s still a good side.

But it isn’t Atlético at full attacking strength.

🟡 VILLARREAL

And Villarreal haven't turned up to admire the Metropolitano.

Nicolas Pépé, Alberto Moleiro, Ayoze Pérez and Georges Mikautadze all start.

There’s proper threat there.

They finished above Atlético last season and opened this campaign with a 2–2 draw against Racing, so they’ll fancy exposing any early-season rust.

👀 WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

Whether Atlético miss a proper No.9.

Lookman can absolutely hurt Villarreal, but without Álvarez or Sørloth starting, this has a slightly makeshift feel.

And Villarreal’s front four is good enough to punish them.

🔮 PINT & POST PREDICTION: ATLÉTICO 1–1 VILLARREAL

I was leaning Atlético before seeing the teams.

Now?

Much less convinced.

Villarreal have enough going forward to make this bloody awkward.

1–1.

And Simeone staring angrily towards Álvarez on the bench by about minute 63 feels entirely possible. 😂🍺

Atlético? Villarreal? What are you going for? 👇

🕓 16:00 BST

[Newcastle United @NUFC]

7️⃣👑

One of a kind.