🔔 What you might've missed this week 👀

The Stuff You Should Know

⛔️ Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea part ways.

⬆️ Southampton promoted to the Premier League.

🏆 Man United win the FA Cup. Ten Hag’s future still in doubt.

🤦 Newcastle miss out on European football and get beaten 8-0 in Australia.

⬇️ Luton relegated.

👀 It’s your last chance to order your commemorative FPL chips.

⚽️ Join our free-to-enter Euro 2024 fantasy league here or use code JzinMs.

Keep reading to find out whether The Professor retained his top 100k record.

Alright?

Welcome to the Sunday Service, our weekly email designed to keep you informed, in-the-loop and, dare I say it, perhaps even a little entertained during what are otherwise the most boring few months of the year: June and July.

The Euros will definitely make the summer less of a slog. Heck, even the Olympics has a football tournament (you might recall that Richarlison and Anthony were amongst those in Brazil’s 2020 gold-winning squad). Desparate times and all that…

But these emails aren’t merely an attempt to pass the time. We hope they’ll prepare you properly for the 24/25 season, equipping you with the info, stats and insight necessary to ensure you start next season as you mean to go on.

In short, attending our Sunday Service each week will give you an edge before a 24/25 ball has even been kicked.

Find yourself a seat and make yourself comfortable. The service is in session.

Your last chance to commemorate your season.

We only take orders on FPL Chips until the end of May, which means you have a few days before you miss your opportunity. If you’d like to immortalise your decent FPL rank, these poker chips are a great way to do it.

You can now order from anywhere in the world and for any season.

For UK readers, we’re also selling commemorative victory mugs and joke mugs for mini-league winners and losers.

Remember, the money made from these sales goes towards the upkeep of this newsletter.

The key dates this summer.

June 14th - Euro 2024 gets underway.

June 18th - 24/25 Premier League fixtures released.

July 3rd - July 10th - Estimated launch for the 24/25 FPL game.

July 14th - Euro 2024 final.

July 26th - Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony.

August 17th - 24/25 Premier League season gets underway.

The bizarre results since GW38.

Between the FA Cup final and an oddly scheduled set of friendlies for Spurs and Newcastle in the land down under, there are a few post-season results to report on.

Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United

A shock win for Manchester United against Guardiola’s men gave their season a very different hue. Prior to the game, The Guardian had reported that Eric Ten Hag was due to be released regardless of the outcome, but suddenly that feels like it could be a bit premature. All eyes on next week.

Newcastle 0-8 A-League All Stars

It hasn’t been a great week for the poor, penny-pinching minnows of Newcastle. Man United’s FA Cup win means the world’s richest club won’t play any European football next season, and their post-season jaunt in Australia finished with an 8-0 defeat at the hands of the A-League’s all stars.

In fairness to Newcastle, they fielded barely a C-team, let alone a B-team. With a few exceptions (Lewis Hall, Keiran Trippier, Elliot Anderson), the squad looked unrecognisable to the Newcastle we see in the Premier League. As you can imagine, the fans were delighted:

But it wasn’t the only game they played in Australia…

Spurs 1-1 Newcastle (Newcastle win on penalties)

Prior to their A-League thrashing, Newcastle played Spurs in a game of such magnitude that Mark Gillespie - Newcastle’s goalkeeper that day - earned a Wikipedia edit.

Alexander Isak scored for Newcastle and James Maddison scored for Spurs.

Newcastle’s European absence - does it matter?

For FPL managers, Newcastle’s lack of European football next season is probably a good thing. Without the added Thursday night fixtures, we can theoretically expect fewer injuries, fresher legs and more line-up predictability.

Newcastle seemed to struggle with the balance of Champions League and Premier League demands last season, and can now focus their energies on the domestic league alone.

With that being said, it’s easier for clubs to retain their best players with the draw of a European competition - even if that European competition includes teams like St Mirren and Estonia’s fourth-placed team, Paide Linnameeskond.

Might the likes of Alexander Isak get poached by teams with Champions League football on the horizon? Time will tell.

Poch leaves Chelsea.

If there’s one league Chelsea are always odds-on to top, it’s the Managerial Sacking League (sponsored by BBC’s The Apprentice).

Mauricio Pochettino is the latest feather in their cap, but even for Chelsea’s standards, it felt like the timing was strange. They had just strung together a five-game winning streak to end the season in 6th - a finish that looked unlikely earlier in the season.

Alas, what’s done is done. Chelsea players, including Cole Palmer (23/24’s top scoring FPL player) will be managed by a new manager next season. We’ll discuss how their assets might be impacted once a new manager has been appointed.

Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester go up.

Southampton’s 1-0 play-off final victory over Leeds means they become the third and final team to be promoted to the Premier League, joining the already-promoted Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

We’ll discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of their squads once the game has been launched.

Some of you had a vested interest in the fate of The Professor’s FPL season, so here’s a quick update.

Starting Gameweek 38 ranked 84k, The Professor only scored 62 points on the final day, registering a red arrow.

Luckily for him, he finished at 96k, maintaining his flawless top 100k record by an errant eyebrow hair’s width. Two points fewer across the entire season and it would’ve been a different story.

This season feels extra special because of the woeful start he had. In Gameweek 7, ranked 4.7m, some of our susbcribers even suggested we find a new Prof.

But The Professor never panicked and never wavered. He continued to play his game, knowing that the variance that had victimised him early in the season would likely swing the other way eventually.

Here he is with some of our premium subscribers and team members on the final day of the season. As you can see by his face, he’s absolutely delighted.

Other Stuff We Found Interesting

1. Congrats to the overall winner of FPL, Jonas Sand Låbakk. We’ve had a few chats with him over the last few weeks and he seems like a lovely chap.

2. The Euro Fantasy game is live. Here’s our league again.

3. This budget enablers graphic from AllAboutFPL.

Right. Have a great week. We’ll be back next Sunday with the essential news and updates.

Until then, stay lazy.

The LazyFPL Team.