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The BJ Show
Sports Roundup: Premier League Predictions, PGA Tour, and F1 Drama
The Premier League has returned with Liverpool earning an emotional 4-2 win over Bournemouth and newly-promoted Sunderland making a stunning statement with their 3-0 victory against West Ham. Several compelling matches set the stage for an unpredictable season ahead.
• Sunderland demonstrated effective counter-attacking football despite low possession statistics
• Arsenal defeated Manchester United 1-0 despite being dominated in almost every statistical category
• Premier League predictions include Man City as champions followed by Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea
• The PGA Tour Championship features a new format where any player in the field of 30 can win the FedEx Cup
• Russell Henley leads after the first round at nine-under par
• MLB playoff races are heating up with tight contests in the AL East and NL West
• McLaren faces a championship dilemma with both drivers Norris and Piastri in contention
• Team orders may become necessary to prevent potential conflicts between teammates
to the late, mid-late August edition of the International Agenda presented by the BJ Show. As always, I am your host, aidan Barry, and on the program tonight we're going to have a look at the Premier League for the 2025-26 season. I'm going to give some predictions based on what I saw on match week one. We're also going to be having a look at the PGA Tour Championship how that's going after the first round. I will keep you updated on that next week. Who wins the big prize there at Eastlake? We're going to go into the Major League Baseball going to have a look at who is currently leading the divisions and the wildcards as we edge closer to the end of the season. It's nearly August, there's about a month or so to play there, so we'll get to that as well. Keep those stats rolling. And also going to have a little bit of a discussion about the McLaren situation in Formula One. So, without further ado, let's get straight into tonight's program. As I said in the intro to tonight's show, premier League Match Week 1 has come and gone. A lot of shocks and surprises from that first match week to discuss, so let's get straight into that. From Match Week 1 are as follows.
Speaker 1:From Match Week 1 are as follows. We started off with champions at Liverpool versus Bournemouth at home on what was a very emotional day for them. After the passing of Diego Jota, they win 4-2 over the Cherries there. So a big win there for Liverpool on that very, very emotional day. Then we have a nil-all draw between Aston Villa and Newcastle. Brighton versus Fulham finishes 1-0 there at the Amex. Then one of the new boys, the newly promoted, sides, sunderland, with one of the big results of the weekend they beat West Ham 3-0. Tottenham beat Burnley 3-0. As could be expected, wolverhampton also very emotional for them as well, jose Pallama, player of them. They played man City. Man City won that game 4-0. Chelsea and Crystal Palace played out a 0-0 draw. Nottingham Forest beat Brentford 3-1. Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0. And Leeds beat Everton 1-0 as well. So some very, very compelling matches to look at. One match I'm going to really have a look at this week is the match between sunderland and weston. Sunderland, the team who you know people probably didn't really have a lot of expectations of coming into the season. However, their their off-season moves in, their moves in the transfer window, really set them up in a good position after winning the championship playoff last year, already some thoughts about championships, champions league, going around. I don't think if they were at that point yet, but definitely a very, very strong, very emphatic statement from the black cats on their return to the premier league, where I really believe they belong, in the top flight of english football.
Speaker 1:Goals from mayenda ballard and isidore capping off what was a successful, sensational return to the Premier League. Only have 37% possession, but it's what you do with the ball that counts. You can sit in your back half all day and do nothing with it, or you can start going forward and using it as effectively you have, you know, five shots on target, the other team's four. You've got more shots in the lottery you win. You know they only had 323 passes up to 550, 77 accuracy at 85. So you know. But that's what happens when you play. A more, more attacking brand of football is you can rack up a lot of passes playing back and sideways, left and right in defense, or you can start to push the ball forward and use it effectively to create chances with a counter attacking style. So the low position number does scare me a little bit. When they play the big boys they may have even lower numbers there and that will hurt them, but the way they played in that second half, really the disparity in passing and the disparity in pass accuracy I'm really not too worried about also. So that was a big, big win for Sunderland.
Speaker 1:Also, going to have a look at the Arsenal versus Manchester United game here. This one was absolutely dominated all over the stat sheet by Manchester United 22 shots to 9, 7 on target to 3, 62. Possession to 38, 475 passes to 294 passes, 82% accuracy to 74% accuracy, less fouls, less, less cards, less offsides. You know, real great, great display from manchester united and you know this is why we don't play sport on paper and this is one of the things that both ben and I really love about sport is it's something that's not played on paper and we have to put our differences out there and see who the better side is on the field, as arsenal somehow, despite absolutely getting batted across the stat sheet, are the ones to sneak out the 1-0 win over Manchester United.
Speaker 1:Now we're going to move to Match Week 2 in the Premier League. We started with West Ham versus Chelsea. That is our early game for this round. Then we have our Match of the Day, man City versus Tottenham Hotspur, and Match of the Day really is Match of the round this week. Bournemouth versus Wolves. Then follows we also have Burnley and Sunderland, brentford and Aston Villa, arsenal and Leeds, crystal Palace versus Nottingham Forest, everton versus Brighton, fulham versus Manchester United, newcastle versus Liverpool. That could be an interesting game as well at the close of the round.
Speaker 1:Newcastle, very dominant last year, liverpool, as I said, champions this year of this previous season. They could be also looking to pinch Isak from Newcastle. They have made a strong move for him. Newcastle has said they're not going to let him go. However, isak has also said that he's not going to be playing for Newcastle if he can help it. So it's going to be one way or the other. I think he ends up somewhere. It may have to be Liverpool, it may have to be something else, but that is transfer speculation. We wait on for another day.
Speaker 1:But that is our look at the Premier League. While we're at it, I'm going to have a little poke at putting in my top four, my European sides and any teams who I think may be relegated. So our top four for the season. We're going to have City as champions, followed by Liverpool, arsenal and Chelsea. That is the top four, since we now have a top five in the Premier League. In fifth place will be and this is where it gets tough, this is where we have those real wildcard teams. But fifth place, I could honestly say, being someone like a Palace, or probably not actually a Palace, someone like a Newcastle, I think. So probably a Newcastle, I think, would be that fifth side. Going to the Europa League, I'd say would possibly be Forest, maybe also Brighton or Fulham, and to the Conference League, I could see it being a team like Manchester United. I could see it being Sunderland if their form continues throughout the season, they get a very good start for them as well. Going to the bottom end of the table, teams going to the drop zone, I could see. You know, burnley looked out of place, wolves looked definitely out of place, west Ham getting barrowed by Sunderland that doesn't scare them too well. So my bottom three right now, I'd have to say, would be the three who are down the bottom as things stand after the first match week Burnley, west Ham and Wolves. But that is where we're going to leave the Premier League for now. We.
Speaker 1:The PGA Tour season has come to its final event, the PGA Tour Championship at Eastlake in Atlanta. This is where legends are made. This is where the FedEx Cup title is decided. Now, normally we run the points back. Normally, points are in play. The last couple of years we've also had a situation where the point disparity has been spread out across the playing group of the top 30 players in the standings. With the higher up you score in the standings gives you a benefit in your starting score. So top players would start with a distance between them and lower run players.
Speaker 1:This year we have a new system. We have a system in which any player in the 30 is eligible to win the tour championship. All they have to do is win the event. They win the tour championship event, they win the FedEx Cup. They also get the winner's prize of 10 million US dollars for the event. So big money on the line. Big money on the line in this event. It is two titles in one.
Speaker 1:It is the PGA Tour Championship event at Eastlake, also the FedEx Cup Points Championship as well, and we get now to the leaderboard after the first round. So leading at this point is Russell Henley on nine under, followed by Scott Sheffield on seven under. Then we have Morikawa, canley and Thomas and McIntyre and Fleetwood all on six under very, very strong names on that top two plus the tied top three, bringing the top seven with very strong pedigree there In a tied ace. We have Bartier, oberg, griffin, rory, mark Rory. That is a very, very strong top ten, top tied ace positions at this point.
Speaker 1:Now, golf's a funny game. It can turn on a dime One good round and you're in the game. One bad round and you are out of the game. So looking down the list a little bit, sung Jae Im is on two under, but could definitely make a move. Victor Hovland, also there on two under, definitely make a move. Shane Lowry's even park, would make a move. Clark Connors even park, would make a move. You know there's a lot of players, definitely in this whole field. It's only a short, condensed field with 30 players, as I said, who genuinely could make a move. Now I cannot see any Aussie flags in this. So there is no Australians in the PGA Tour Championship this year, unfortunately. But if I was to say if there's any guy that I want to win it, I'd probably have to say Russell Henley would be a great champion. Rob McIntyre would be a great champion. Tommy Fleets would be a great champion. So those are probably my three guys that I want to win. I will update you with the results of this event in the next episode here on the international agenda.
Speaker 1:With the golf done, with the golf currently in play, we're going to move over to baseball and have a look at the MLB standings for mid-August as we close in on the postseason. Now it is time to have a look at the mid-August run-in to the postseason for Major League Baseball. We start, as always, in the American League East. The Toronto Blue Jays currently lead the American League East with 74 wins, four and a half games behind the New York Yankees, five games behind on the Boston Red Sox. And then trailing off recently has been the Tampa Bay Rays, and then in last place, but making a little bit of a surge up, is the Baltimore Orioles. Unfortunately for me, orioles just can't seem to get it right. We had a couple of years but we're not in there anymore.
Speaker 1:Oh well, moving on American League Central, led by the Detroit Tigers, this one looks pretty much sewn up. Tigers look like they've got this one In. Second in that division is the Kansas City Royals They've made some great moves and the Cleveland Guardians in third Royals 66 wins, guardians. The Royals 66 wins, guardians 64 wins, 9.5 and 10.5 games behind the Tigers respectively, trailing off that division, the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox. Heading down to the American League West, where there is definitely a race still alive between the Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners, houston has now got the lead in that division. They lead by two games in 70 wins to Houston, 68 wins to Seattle. Lead by two games in 70 wins to Houston, 68 wins to Seattle. So that could flip on a series. If, though, when those two teams play each other as we get towards the end of the season, falling off in that division now, the Texas Rangers seven and a half games back, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim eight and a half games back and the Oakland A's only 11 and a half games back. Despite their poor start to the season, some of these back-end teams are starting to make moves, just for their own dignity and their own self-worth.
Speaker 1:Now we get to the national league, american league done, national league east. National league east is led by the philadelphia phillies. They are on 74 wins, seven games ahead of a second place, new york met. Going down the america, the sorry. The national league east is the Miami Marlins on 60 wins, 14 games behind the division, the Atlanta Braves 58 wins, 16 games behind the division. And in last place are the Washington Nationals 52 wins, 22 games behind the division.
Speaker 1:National League Central Brew Crews had a good run of form of late. They've stretched their advantage. They now have a seven-game lead over the Chicago Clubs, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Brew Crew 80 wins to this point so far. Cubbies, as I said, seven games back, 73 wins. Cincinnati Reds 13 games back, 67 wins. St Louis Cardinals 64 wins, 16.5 games back and 54 wins. For the Pittsburgh Pirates they are 26 games back in the National League Central.
Speaker 1:Now we have another very, very exciting race between two teams who are powerhouses in the West. The Los Angeles Dodgers currently lead the National League West over the San Diego Padres by one game Los Angeles Dodgers 73 wins, padres 72 wins, falling back off the division. We have the Arizona Dodgers 73 wins. Padres 72 wins, falling back off the division. We have the Arizona Diamondbacks 62 wins. San Francisco Giants 61 wins and, last place in baseball, colorado Rockies 37 wins.
Speaker 1:As we now move to have a look at the wildcard, having a look at who would currently be in those wildcard spots. We have both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox coming out of the American League East and the Seattle Mariners coming out of the American League West. Some teams in the Central in play as well the Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Guardians. I think that's where that line ends with the top three. Moving into the wildcard positions come game 162.
Speaker 1:Dropping down to the National League, two teams are pretty much locked in at this stage. I'd say moving into the wildcard positions come game 162. Dropping down to the National League, two teams are pretty much locked in at this stage. I'd say the Cubbies are locked in for a wildcard spot. I'd say whoever doesn't win the National League East out of the Padres and the Dodgers is also locked in for a wildcard spot. And currently the third wildcard spot goes to the New York Mets. Cincinnati Reds half a game behind the Mets, st Louis four games behind the Mets. That's probably where I think we draw the line there. So I will keep you updated on those standings as we move through the season, as we get closer to the play in. It is getting crunch time in the baseball fields and it is going to be a great chase to the postseason come this year. I am very much looking forward to seeing how those division races end up in both of those west divisions, and the American League East also looks quite entertaining as well.
Speaker 1:As I said, I'll keep you updated on them, and now we will move on and have a look at some motorsport, and I want to have a just a quick discussion during the f1 mid-season break on the mclaren situation, because I could only see this going one way, unfortunately, and that's what I want to talk about right now. Mclaren situation in formula one is quite an interesting one. Both of their drivers are very much in contention to win the world's championship. This year. They are the number one and number two on the world's point standings, as we did have a look at last time here on the international agenda. Here's where I have the problem. It is coming to the time where they will have to prioritize the point scoring for one of their drivers, because if they keep going on like this, taking points off of each other, it could get ugly.
Speaker 1:I think maybe letting them race for a little bit longer might be the right idea, maybe to the end of the European swing. There's a couple of European races left in the season, but once we get out of Europe, the decision would have to be made for them to say okay, we're going to pick one of these drivers to be our main focus for the rest of the year, not because anyone can catch up to them. I don't think there's any one driver that can catch up to them. I think, even if max had a very, very good second half the year, that I I don't see him being consistent enough in the red bull to catch up. But what I am concerned about is I've seen this happen before two teammates who get along. They've like racing for the team, they like racing with each other in that same team. It gets it gets very nasty very quickly If someone we already had one accident in Canada. We don't want to have that boil up to a couple more in the back end of the year where whoever's second it might be accidentally, on purpose taking some liberties with their driving to stop their teammate from scoring points.
Speaker 1:Now there's been plenty of famous teammates who never got on Lewis and Nico, rosberg, senna and Prost, you know, weber and Vettel. It's a story that's been played out over and over again in Formula One, but I just think that McLaren need to play their cards right here, and I don't think letting them race every single week, especially as we come to the back end of the season, is the right here, and I don't think letting them race every single week, especially as we come to the back end of the season, is the right decision. I think that they might have to say okay, boys, you can race. The best option is not picking a single driver, or selecting a single driver over their teammate is the best option either. I think that the best option for this year going forward is saying, okay, boys, you can race. But if we say, hold position, that that's a final whatever, you know, oscar's already tried to make some team plays. It it's something's got something. Hasn't lando's out there? I think lando's gonna start making. So I feel like lando's gonna start making some team plays second half of the year as well.
Speaker 1:So this is where I was going to come in when the boys start trying to make team plays, to prioritize their drivers championship aspirations over the good of the team. Because Norris Piastri is an elite driver line-up in the current climate of Formula 1, probably one of the best driver line-ups F1 has seen in a long time, and I just don't want that to go to race, because it is exciting and it is entertaining and that's what Formula 1 needs right now. We need good racing, we need competitive racing, but we also don't need back paddock drama where teammates are gashing on each other because he didn't do this, he didn't do that. The team called this for me, the team called this for me. You know it's. It's just. I can see it playing out and it going horribly wrong, because I've seen it happen before and when it happens, it's gonna be. It's gonna be a nightmare for mclaren. It really is.
Speaker 1:But, as I said, I feel like the best option is, you know, letting them race with restraints where the team order comes in, no ifs, buts or maybes. Go the strat and just work, work within yourself. Now I feel like if, in saying that if it started to heavily prioritize one driver, then I think that would be a little bit unfair. I think I've got to find a way to balance it so that both drivers have opportunities to win the title. Piastri, currently ahead by nine points in the driver's championship. So if he, you know, if we say that he's got priority right now, then that's fair as the current championship leader, even the next couple of races. Lando wants wants to overcome Oscar's position, then I feel like Lando could be the one who gets favoured. But best option is keep the pace, play smart and let them race with restraints.
Speaker 1:Now, that's all I have for this episode. We're going to see how everything plays out over the next couple of weeks. F1 is going to be returning soon as well. Hopefully these McLaren drivers are able to work together and get a successful outcome for one of them, if not both of them, and the team plays a good supporting role in that as well. But that is all I have for tonight's episode of the International Agenda. It's been a pleasure. As always, I've been your host, aidan Barry, signing off. Thank you very much and I'll see you next time.
