..to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your first-gen Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe.

It’s Fridaaaaayyyyyyyyy. Log off, pull up a stool, and tap the heck in. Joe’s served you up a lovely one this Friday:

Bottoms up.

It’s Trivia Tuesday at your local watering hole and after a couple of capitulations in as many weeks, your team The Beer Necessities are finally looking nailed on for the first place prize of four free shots of Jamo and basket of buffalo wings.

You've been dominant all evening. By the final round, you're sitting 8 points clear of arch rivals Let’s Get Quizzical. The trophy is right there. The regulars are already buying you drinks. There is no way you are losing this.

The final round begins — and then everything starts to unravel.

Questions you'd normally answer in your sleep: you’re blank. Your teammates: they’re arguing. Your mind:

“Mona Lisa… DiCaprio painted that, no?”

You’re a shambles. Meanwhile, your nemeses in the corner who've been quietly sinking pints since 6pm reel off a perfect final round — and steal the trophy. You shake your head.

“Not again.”

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of Arsenal Football Club. Season after season after season.

Here's the thing about Mikel Arteta's Arsenal. They are genuinely brilliant. One of the best-run clubs in Europe. A joy to watch. And for the last three seasons they have finished second in the Premier League — which sounds respectable until you see exactly how they did it:

Three runners-up finishes. Three years of near misses. Now here we are in 2025/26, and it might be happening all over again.

Arsenal, currently top of the Premier League, travelled to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night. That’s bottom of the table Wolverhampton Wanderers. Nine points all season. One win from 27 games.

Arsenal led 2-0 with half an hour to play. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot. Firstly, Hugo Bueno curled in a goal that was very… well, bueno. Then a 19-year-old making his Premier League debut — Tom Edozie, who neither you nor I had never heard of before midweek — came off the bench and made it 2-2 with the last kick of the game.

They’re still 5 points clear at the top, but Manchester City now have a game in hand and Arsenal have just two wins in five. And on Sunday? They travel away to Tottenham for the North London Derby — their biggest rivalry of the season.

Brentford fans were chanting "second again, ole ole" after their 1-1 tie with Arsenal just last week. At this rate, they might just be right.

No clue how a Premier League table even works? I’ve got you covered.

The UCL knockout phase playoff first legs got underway this week. If I may as well be speaking Japanese so far, you may want a quick recap of how these games work and why they’re being played here.

Otherwise, keep scrolling and enjoy the truly mad set of results below:

It’s still all to play for in the second legs next Tuesday and Wednesday. Unless you’re Qarabag — I’d probably save yourselves the trip, lads.

What started out as 747 teams (yes, believe it) is now 16. The draw for the next round took place on Monday night and it threw up some crackers:

Games will be played the first week in March. We’ll have ‘em covered.

The two big games to keep an eye on this weekend:

Newcastle United famously blew the biggest points lead in Premier League history in 1995/96. But how many points clear were they at their peak?

Keep scrolling for the answer.

Folarin Balogun made USMNT history on Tuesday. The Monaco striker scored twice inside 18 minutes against PSG in the Champions League — becoming the first American to score multiple goals in a Champions League knockout game. Against the reigning European champions. At 24 years old.

He also broke Pulisic's record for USMNT goals in a single Champions League season, now sitting with five goals in nine games. Monaco still lost 3-2, but Balogun's World Cup 2026 audition tape is looking very good.

Phrase: “they’ve bottled it / they’re bottlers / bottlejobs”

Origin: Comes from British slang — "bottle" meaning nerve or courage, likely rooted in old boxing culture. To lose your bottle is to lose your nerve and choke when it matters most.

Definition: When a team collapses under pressure at a crucial moment — surrendering a lead, a title, or a result they should have held. Not just losing. Losing in a specific, gutting, inexplicable way.

Usage: "Arsenal: made in London, bottled in Wolverhampton”

Highbury Stadium, London. Look, I've spent most of this newsletter giving Arsenal grief. Consider this a peace offering.

Highbury was Arsenal's home from 1913 to 2006 — a genuinely stunning Art Deco ground with Grade II listed stands. Legally protected heritage. Enjoy some genuinely stop and stare dusty old photos of her from over the years here. When they moved to the Emirates, Highbury became luxury apartments. People now live where Thierry Henry used to terrorize defenders.

Say what you want about Arsenal — and I have — but Highbury was a beaut.

Given today’s theme, it would be rude not to.

February 5th, 2011. Arsenal lead Newcastle 4-0. Four nil. With 69 minutes played. Newcastle score four times in the final 21 minutes to draw 4-4 at St. James' Park. One of the most extraordinary Premier League matches ever played.

Arsenal blowing leads. The more things change…

Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United led the Premier League by 12 points in January 1996 — with the same number of games played as second-place Manchester United. They went on to lose the title. Man United won it by 4 points.

See, Arsenal fans? Could be worse.

Thanks for stopping by The Tap-Inn.

If you enjoyed this, forward it to that friend who knows nothing about soccer and help spread the good word.

I’ll be behind the bar every week, Monday and Friday, serving up soccer. Sláinte.

— Joe