u/MarlboroNiceBlast

Not bothered about busy crowds because that’s part and parcel of the festival, however:

Sitting down in-between acts in the middle of a pen is a massive massive safety hazard for you and the person stood next to you when it’s that busy, and it’s ultimately your own daft fault if you get hurt.

And also, everyone loves a cheeky photo or two, the odd video, but there will be several people who will be able to watch the entire show back on their phones this morning! For future reference, you’ll be able to do this on the iPlayer (providing you have your TV licence 😉😉😉😉😉) and you’ll be able to properly enjoy the gig you paid 3 figures for.

That being said the show was outstanding (I’d maybe have tweaked the setlist but people are into the new album and that’s cool) and it was more than worthy of the co headline slot

Smashed it last week, few more big underdogs this time round in Usman and Ricci for me.

Take this with a geet big pinch of salt cause it’s most definitely not true but I mocked this up based on the stage splits for all the artists just to give an idea on who might be clashing

My first time having a go at this - I’ve finally finished building out my UFC Elo sheet, so these picks are based on a mix of the ratings and my own judgement.

Very briefly, Elo works by rating fighters based on their results and the strength of their opponents. Beating a highly rated fighter moves you up more than beating someone ranked lower, while losing as a big favourite hurts more. It’s not perfect for MMA because styles still matter, but it gives a useful statistical starting point.

Not claiming the spreadsheet has cracked MMA, but this is the first card where I’m properly putting it to the test - looking back it has around 70-85% success based on previous cards.

PS I’m leaving off Cody v Yanez, Pinas v Almeida and Gandra v Reese, however if you’re really twisting my arm I’d say: Cody, Pinas and Gandra

We’ve all seen the stats and headlines. Only 2 defeats at the Azteca for Mexico, altitude going to be difficult to handle, atmosphere intimidating, so I’m hoping to break this down as best as possible.

The Record

70-17-2. No doubt it’s impressive. That’s a 97.8% unbeaten record, and a 78.7% win record. Pair that with their World Cup record, and it’s even more daunting at 8-2-0, with them going 2-1-0 in ‘70, 3-1-0 in ‘86 and (as it stands) 3-0 in 2026. Their two defeats have came against Costa Rica in 2001, and Honduras in 2013, both in World Cup Qualifiers.

A huge chunk of this record is CONCAFAF qualifying, and without disrespecting any nations here, they have historically and currently less depth than CONMENOL or UEFA. At lot of these games are against teams that Mexico should be beating at home. 70-17-2 sounds very “Brazil-at-the-Maracana” until you realise the caveat being they’re traditionally playing the likes of Jamaica, Panama, Canada, USA, etc, and it’s not 2 losses in 89 against France, Spain, Argentina, etc.

Altitude

The altitude is also something raised a lot; I’d personally call it a major advantage, but not a cheat code. This will matter more in the second half of the game where Mexico will look notably sharper - four of their group stage goals game beyond the second hydration break.

It’s not a magic button though… against Ecuador, the altitude edge was expected to be smaller because Ecuador regularly play home matches in Quito at over 9,000ft and are used to those conditions. This is a game where Tuchel is going to have to get the timing of his subs spot on, to counteract not only this, but the possibility of extra time.

Atmosphere

As for the atmosphere, it depends on the person. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about with people shouting “booo” but I’m also not a professional footballer.

Mexico vs. England, Monday Morning.

Overall, I’d make Mexico slight favourites here, but only slight. They’re 4-0 so far, and they’re 8-0 for goals. Some can be attributed to home advantage, but that’s still genuine control. We also had to really pull it out of the bag against Congo - going into the last 20 minutes against Mexico 1-0 down would be such an uphill task.

England have a higher ceiling here looking at the array of quality in Kane, Bellingham, Rice, Rashford and Saka. Mexico aren’t Brazil 1970 and England aren’t plucky underdogs.

Prediction: 1-1, with Mexico getting the edge in Extra Time or Pens, but if England score first I’d swing that more in our favour as it’ll force them to open up rather than ride the crowd and altitude advantage.