bookd.
Azrael
21 - she/they Love the footy, simple as. I don’t really like rating things, I use this more for diaries. Most followed Liverpool/Ireland fan on Bookd
Fulham2 - 3Chelsea
Chelsea begin the Alonso era with a quality win! Fulham actually turned up to this one, giving Arbeloa a chance to show what he’s worth in the league. A lot of this though came too little too late, mainly as Chelsea mostly controlled the match. Chelsea may have shown brilliant attacking play, but their defence is still lacking. Sanchez’s goalkeeping in particular nearly costing them the match. If they want to push for the title or Champions League places this year, they will need to sort out the issues at the back. Arsenal still look like the favourites after GW1. With the best of the rest though, I’d say Chelsea are showing what they are made of to put a stake in the claim for that.
Bologna0 - 1Lazio
First Serie A watch of the season! Lazio’s style is very low block, but they’re certainly not the worst team to watch in the world. Bologna actually looked better before Frattesi could come on; when the change happened Lazio regained their attacking spark and he snatched them a well-deserved winner.
Elche0 - 5Barcelona
Barcelona’s first game of the season is laying the groundwork for what could be a defining season. The squad has amazing chemistry and great depth. Elche actually played fairly well, but Barcelona just have the ability to steamroll even good teams. Could this be the year they add a sixth European Cup to their cabinet? It sure would not surprise me.
Getafe1 - 0Racing Santander
I’ve heard horror stories of Bordolas’s playing style so this was interesting to watch. The game ended about the way I expected, with Getafe edging to a 1-0 win. Racing’s best opportunity was their admittedly dodgy penalty, which they squandered. Highlight of the match for me were the English commentators, just waffled about anything lol.
Newcastle2 - 2LiverpoolSome fucking start eh? To begin, Liverpool still look shakey. Andoni’s got some tricks on the touchline, but reinforcements are desperate at right back, midfield and on the wing. Isak and Wirtz looked unimpressive, mainly due to the pressure. But fucking hell Dom! He saved our game big time, I’d also like to give shoutouts to Koumas, Munoz and Araujo who showed what they were capable of coming into the time. They were some of our best players tonight; alongside Gakpo, who really has a lot to prove after his poor year last season (though I imagine a lot of that fell on Slot). Only 37 more to go, I hope the rest aren’t as stressful as this.
Man City2 - 1Bournemouth
Truthfully, it was Bournemouth that had the control for most of the game’s duration. Their first half goal was coupled with some great defending later on. After Guehi snatched a lucky header to level it, Bournemouth’s morale tanked and it showed. Gvardiol delivering a striker’s goal in added time to give Maresca his first official win as coach. It’s a sign of positivity for Man City, and they’ll need comeback performances like that if they want to keep the momentum they had from the Pep days.
West Brom3 - 1Burnley
Both teams were pretty close in the first half, with Burnley just slightly having more chances. The second half proved to be a different story though as West Brom really ran away with it with a fantastic curler early in and then a penalty to seal the deal. West Brom will hope to carry on this good run as they find themselves in the automatic promotion places, but Burnley are having a tough time settling back into the Championship this time around.
Dortmund1 - 2Bayern
I can understand why most people switched off after the first half as Bayern controlled the game with ease, but I do feel sorry for them because the second half was absolutely electric. Thrilling end to end football with Dortmund throwing everything at it from then on. They should rightfully feel hard done with the controversial red card at the end, but at the same time they didn’t do enough in attack during the first half to pull the win. Fun game regardless with two amazing teams, looking forward to seeing them perform in the Bundesliga whenever I get the chance.
Brentford3 - 0Tottenham
Brentford delivered belt to ass against Spurs tonight. I actually felt a little bad for Spurs because that second half was like watching a wild animal die on the side of the road. De Zerbi might lose his hair from the stress; he should hope that becoming bald attracts interest from Man City.
Nott'm Forest0 - 1Leeds
Cagey match-up where the first half’s story revolved around a controversial red card that was not given (though i would argue it should have been). Leeds managed to snatch a deserved winner late on from a brilliant Stach free kick. Forest shouldn’t need to beat themselves up over this loss though as they can snatch some revenge later in the week when these two play again in the League Cup.
Hull City2 - 0Man United
Wow, two games into the season and we’ve had one of the biggest upsets possible. Hull were excellent tonight, and picked apart United as if they were a Champions League level team. United may have been poor, but that takes nothing away from Hull’s fantastic performance.
Arsenal3 - 0Coventry
Cruise control for Arsenal as they stormed to a comfortable first win of the season. Coventry will have to do much better to keep their place in the Premier League, but all Arsenal need to do is keep working their magic like they did tonight and they should be able to retain their title.
Rayo Vallecano1 - 1Alaves
Rayo controlled most of the game and grabbed a great goal in the second half. When Alaves got one back, the momentum briefly shifted to them. Nobody could find a winner though, pretty average game of football.
Celtic3 - 0Lask Linz
Celtic knocked it out of the park with tonight’s performance. Three world-class goals and even more just barely missing, their place in the Champions League seems wrapped up. This team feels like they could do even better than they did back in 24/25.
Fenerbahçe1 - 1Lyon
Fener were able to hold their own against a giant of the top 5 leagues tonight, their new squad looks strong enough to take on Europe similarly to how Gala did last season. They have a tough task ahead of them next week travelling to Lyon, but I could see either team being strong favourites for the Europa if they are to fall.
Cardiff1 - 1Wrexham
This was really Cardiff's game. Wrexham took the lead early on thanks in part to some sloppy defending from Cardiff, but for the rest of the game it was Cardiff throwing everything Wrexham's way to get a goal back. It took until the last kick of the game for them to get a well-deserved point from a fantastic free kick. I feel of all the newly promoted sides, Cardiff will probably be the most successful coming into this season.
Lens1 - 0PSG
Brilliant underdog performance from Lens in this match. They had a lot of refeering decisions going against them throughout but they persevered and managed to pick up a win and a trophy to boot. PSG can easily pick themselves up from this, I still fancy them to win the Ligue 1; I hope Lens can still give them a run for their money in this campaign with performances like that.
Liverpool0 - 0Como
Liverpool have finally found their footing with this match, Gakpo is learning to pass, Isak is learning to score and Jacquet and Araujo are making their names known at the Kop. This one had me far more hopeful for the season ahead, and I think a few more signings would push us into the title conversation. (edit: this review was originally tagged onto the previous friendly between both teams from the same day that ended 0-0, thank you bookd moderators for amending this and adding this match to the database).
Arsenal3 - 0Man CityThis wasn't even a fair contest, from the first minute Arsenal walked in with infinitely more confidence and dog-walked Man City. Gonna be a long season ahead at this rate for them at this rate as the Maresca project is only just up and running. With Arsenal, I can't see anything saying that they won't be able to win another Premier League even now. Set pieces or not, they are still one of the most dominant teams in the world.
Sevilla2 - 1Rayo VallecanoI am SOLD on watching La Liga this season. THIS WAS AWESOME! Three penalty decisions, a straight red, scuffles on the pitch and an electric atmosphere to boot. This was easily the most fun match I watched today. I'll definitely make sure to watch more of this league whenever I can as I have been behind in recent years.
Sheffield Utd0 - 0Birmingham
To say the least, this was shit. Neither side particularly impressed, the first half was utterly unremarkable despite some good chances coming in at either end in the second. I predicted both of these teams to finish high up before the season, they won't be doing that with performances like these.
Middlesbrough2 - 1Lincoln
A real game of two halves in this one. The first half exposed Middlesbrough's potential problems as Lincoln exploited long passes to put themselves in control on the counter-attack. The second half though was the Will Lankshear show again, and he's going to be top class this season for sure.
Bolton2 - 1Preston
The Championship marches on, this time it's a battle of newly promoted Bolton facing typically mid-table Preston. Bolton didn't pull any punches in the first half, having an amazing performance. Preston in turn did get better in the second half but their first was way too dismal to have any real turnaround. Bolton desperately needed a good start to their season and this will do great for them. Despite some glimpses of promising football from Preston, they will definitely have to do better from here on.
Wolves2 - 2Blackburn
Raul to the rescue! A mad, mad opening game to the Championship season with a Wolves team looking to get back into the groove and back into the Premier League. They started off well, but quickly got found out with some good attacking play from Blackburn. Raul Jimenez getting a fairytale return with an added time penality equaliser was a magical moment to watch. Blackburn showed they could punch up with some of the big teams in the division, don't think they'll be in the promotion battle but I can certainly say that I also can't see them going down at the moment. Wolves still feel strong despite struggling in this one, and I think their squad depth will push them into at least a play-off position.
PSG2 - 1Aston Villa
PSG winning seemed fairly clear to me but wow did Villa take the fight to them. Kvara is going to have an ever better season than last one, and I reckon without an international tournament he’ll be getting proper Ballon d’Or shouts. On top of that, Madjo showed himself to be a star in the making and I think he’ll be punching above his weight for minutes even in a team with Abraham and Watkins.
Liverpool2 - 3Monaco
Highlights had our main first team stars shine (Ali, Virgil, Wirtz and Isak), but back to back bottlejobs in pre-season puts us in a really bad look. Hope we aren’t this shit in the actual campaign because it might be a long season ahead.
Colchester0 - 2Southampton
Southampton despite winning didn’t really impress until late on. Colchester surprisingly controlled the game in the first half and it wasn’t until Eckart made some vital subs that the pendulum swung back in their favour. I feel like they will have to do much better in the season ahead.
West Ham3 - 1Portsmouth
West Ham started the game sleepwalking until they let a goal in, after that they woke up and the tie was never in doubt after that. Great football with a largely rotation squad is what will most likely get them over the line if they are to return to the Premier League next season.
Middlesbrough1 - 0WrexhamMaybe Wrexham shouldn’t do pre-season tours like they’re already a Prem team when they’re still in the Championship. I think that’s what cost them the win in the end. On the other hand, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Boro have a deep cup run this season.
Celtic1 - 0Dundee
A real cagey match to start Celtic’s defence. Dundee played particularly well against the them but a singular goal did the job for the champions. The new summer signings for the Hoops haven’t propped up their form, but there’s certainly been glimpses of brilliance in there.
Liverpool2 - 4Leedsi wish to have that second half wiped from my memory, Men in Black style.
Aberdeen2 - 1Heart Of Midlothian
Hearts remain the experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Spain1 - 0Argentina
bit of a nothingburger 90 carried by Dibu’s world class keeping. Spain really turned up for extra time with the man advantage and I could not have predicted a Ferran winner for the life of me. Paredes’s crashout at full time might go down as the modern day equivalent to Zidane’s headbutt. Congratulations to Spain, the torch has officially been passed to the next generation by the best player of all time.
Argentina
France4 - 6England
Never ever talk ill on the third place playoff as a concept again. This was probably the best match of the entire World Cup.
