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Cole Palmer of Chelsea. Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images

Premier League Game of the Week: A derby of dollars and dirhams

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated 11/9/23

Watching Premier League soccer as an American is a valuable exercise in cross-cultural communication. Through England’s dogged support of its super league, we learn much about its complicated relationship with community, sport, finance and more. One of the first lessons Americans pick up is that the intersection of soccer and money can be a difficult — and taboo — topic for the average English fan. "Franchise" is often an insult to them, a word deemed inappropriate for mixed company.

The reasons for this are complex, but they can be traced back to the roles soccer clubs played in English towns before the game was commercialized. Clubs weren’t merely there for entertainment; they were a gathering place, a community and an identity for disenfranchised working people across the land. It’s easy to see how massive, speculative investments in these heritage clubs could be viewed as distasteful by long-time fans, and you can’t really blame them for being wary of the big-money spectacle that the Premier League has become.

There are two main ways for a Premier League team to raise stupid amounts of money in this era: get bought by the sovereign wealth fund of a rich nation looking to improve its press, or get bought by a quiet investment company looking to turn a profit in a sport it deems a "growth vehicle." Both come with significant strings attached, but both can deliver the funds needed for the old-school community-focused Premier League teams to compete on a stage that has become truly global.

Many fans snark on these investment strategies, and rightfully so. They change the fabric of soccer clubs forever with little benefit for local communities. Where you’d used to root for, say, Newcastle, because it spoke to you on a personal level, fans today root for it because it has the resources to deliver players like Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

This issue comes to a head in our Premier League Game of the Week for Matchday 12: Chelsea versus Man City. Twenty years ago you’d pick sides on this one by evaluating the facts: London versus Manchester, upper versus working class. Today, to quote the brilliant Men in Blazers, you’d evaluate it like this: Are you Team Private Equity or Team Sovereign Wealth?

Chelsea’s repping for Team Private Equity, owned as it is by American Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. It’s coming off a surprise victory over then-league-leaders Spurs and will want to build upon that momentum in this weekend’s clash.

City, meanwhile, is the jewel in Team Sovereign Wealth’s crown. It suffered an embarrassing defeat to Arsenal a few weekends ago and seems to be on a mission to prove to itself, and the world, that it’s still got everything it takes to win the Premier League at a canter.

But where are the best bets hiding in this unscrupulous pile of money? We think you’ll find them here:

Result / Score — City has the clear edge in this fixture and is expected to win, despite Chelsea’s heroics last weekend against Spurs. But the payout for a City win is predictably weak at -134. Betting on City to win with Chelsea scoring at least one is much tastier at +260—and given that Chelsea finally, finally found its scoring boots last weekend, the time has never been better to predict them finding the back of the net.

Anytime Goalscorer — City’s glorious 6-1 victory over Bournemouth last weekend became something of a Jeremy Doku highlight reel after he scored the first goal and set up several more. Doku’s a relatively new addition to the City lineup and he’s brought a creative spark they’ve missed as Jack Grealish comes back to full fitness—he’s faster than just about anyone and adept at picking out defense-destroying passes. With that in mind, betting on Doku to score at any time this weekend is a steal at +333.

Cards — This one’s a long shot, but keep an eye on Chelsea’s Cole Palmer. He’s a former Man City youth player and he left the club in a huff this summer after failing to receive the minutes he desired under Pep Guardiola. Palmer’s heading into this clash with a real bone to pick, and while he’s not typically a player who picks up many cards, if he’s going to get one, it’s here. He’s listed at +275 to get a yellow or red in this fixture.

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