The halfway point in the Premier League has been passed, and all 20 teams are turning for home. Will Arsenal hold on to finally end the long wait without a title or will Man City reel them in for a 3rd time in four years? Are Aston Villa at the level of the other two title hopefuls yet, or have they another stage to go through? Is this title defence from Liverpool the worst of all time, or at least since their last title defence? We try to answer all this and more. Please note this was recorded pre-Amorim sacking, but we did call him a spoofer during the episode, so you can take that as Gospel.

Last week, we said please, please, please. This week, we're saying thank you, thank you, thank you. Ireland have done the impossible by beating Portugal and Hungary in the space of a week to get into the World Cup playoffs. The dream of seeing in the Boys in Green strut their stuff on the biggest stage is still alive. We've been gifted a fairly fortunate draw in the remaining games, with Czechia away, followed by the winners of Denmark vs North Macedonia making the trip to Dublin should we win our first game. We discuss it all in one of the most enjoyable episodes to date.

The moment of truth is here for the dentist. Will Heimir Halgrimsson and the boys in green be checking out Skyscanner on Sunday night or will we all be facing into the bottom of the bottle and more years of international wilderness? To help propel us to the World Cup next summer, Cian gives an inspirational team talk to the Ireland team that will no doubt fire them to victory on Thursday and Sunday. That's right, we want six points from these two matches. Up first, Ireland play Portugal on Thursday night on what we hope is a barely playable Aviva Stadium pitch (after a rugby friendly and the FAI Cup Final this past weekend), before heading to the Puskás Aréna on Sunday for a showdown against Hungary. We hope that results go our way on Thursday night to ensure Sunday's match is meaningful, but it would be in line with our fortunes over the past few years that Ireland will be out of contention before we even kick off against the Hungarians. We live in hope.

Elsewhere, the FAI have voted overwhelmingly in favour of Israel being banned from UEFA competitions in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, with the motion to be brought before UEFA in coming weeks.

At Walk It In HQ, we relish the winter nights - it means we can watch various sports all day and blame the darkness/crap weather as an excuse not to leave the couch. Alternatively, if you've never been into sports but have rinsed Netflix and are looking to watch some drama unfold on the field over the next months, you've come to the right place.

Ireland went to Chicago over the weekend and got beaten by a rather lacklustre New Zealand side. The starting XV looked slightly disjointed and sluggish, not helped by a harsh red card for Tadhg Beirne in the 2nd minute. As we're halfway through the World Cup cycle, do we feel Ireland are heading in the right direction?

Over in England, the Premier League is just over the quarter mark, and Arsenal have a five point lead at the top. Of course, Arsenal know better than anyone that nothing is won in November. Being on top in May is all that matters, but their form to date is pointing towards that dream becoming a reality. Meanwhile, at the bottom, 3 teams have sacked four managers. Sean Dyche has returned to the Premier League as part of those changes just as it begins to adopt a new fangled form of Dyche ball - will he be able to turn Nottingham Forest around?

Ryder Cup weekend is upon us, so get out the blue and gold EU flag and get behind the lads. Our boys are up against, taking on a very strong US team backed by a raucous crowd and golf-crazy president. Team Europe will be lead on the spiritual and golfing front by Rory McIlroy in what could be the cherry on top in a mostly wonderful year for him. He will ably assisted by Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm and many more, as they look to earn victory on foreign soil for the first time in the Ryder Cup since 2012.

Also taking place this weekend is the opening weekend of the URC. Leinster are strong favourites to win the whole thing, no surprise given their overwhelming dominance of the Irish and Lions team. It is difficult for the other Irish teams to compete with the bias being shown towards awarding central contracts to the boys in blue, as well as their ability to bring in superstars from abroad, but Munster, Ulster and Connacht all have reasons to be optimistic and will look to close the gap with Leinster.

September has started, bringing with it orange leaves, fallen chestnuts and the first steps on the road to the Champions League final in Budapest next May. The English teams will be looking to get back to the final, having missed out on the last three. Many of the Premier League's representatives are looking, on paper at least, worthy contenders in this year's tournament. Having strengthened massively over the summer, all of Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal (maybe Chelsea if you're feeling generous or are Cian) are expected to reach the latter stages of the tournament, navigating the 36 team league phase with ease.

The Rugby Championship is in its fourth round of matches, and all four teams are level on points, with a fair few surprises thrown in. We also look at the new tournament in rugby that's coming down the track.

I don't get nervous... but in the week of leading up to a first qualifying game for an international tournament, I'm starting to get a little bit shaky.

Ireland play Hungary on Saturday and it's pretty fair to say that our ambitions of doing Walk It In live from the Dallas-Forth Worth area next summer depend on a positive result this weekend. Despite it being only the first game of the World Cup 2026 qualifying, it's crucial that @irelandfootball get off to a good start by winning against our biggest rivals for a qualification spot (Portugal are assumed to be too good for us). Will we crash and burn after just 90 minutes, or will Saturday mark the beginning of an epic adventure that ends with Nathan Collins grasping Donald Trump's luminous orange hand before hoisting the World Cup into the air? COYBIG.

The NFL is finally back this weekend, with some choice games on the slate. RedZone has now added ads in what is the most 2025 move of all - gone are those 7 magical hours of commercial free football every Sunday in autumn/winter. If you've never watched NFL, don't let that put you off - with more international games than ever, there's high chance the NFL will be playing a match out your back window one day, so now is a great time to develop a love for the sport.

Did you know me and Cian were at Oasis? It's pretty obvious from the state of our voices all episode. We discuss the biggest headlines from the Premier League, as well as other headlines from the week's sport.

Lastly, we cover the Formula One amidst it's mid-season break. McLaren's two drivers are miles ahead of the chasing pack, having won 11 out of 13 races to date.

Ahead of the Premier League's return to our screens and hearts (did it ever leave there?), we previewed each team's chances for the upcoming season. At around the 1 hour 10 minutes mark we remembered that Sancho is still a registered United player this season. We also made numerous references to Blaze first year disco that require very little referential knowledge, and may or may not work as apt comparisons. Please mind your ears at the 20 minute mark - I made an audio bed that earphone users may find quite loud.

Leinster, I mean Ireland, I mean the British and Irish Lions take on Australia this Saturday in the first test of the 2025 series. We take a look at how the Lions are expected to line up, with a strong Irish contention likely to appear, as well as areas where the Lions will need to be strong in to secure victory on Saturday morning. A ten point winning margin for the #PowerofFour is widely predicted, but Joe Schmidt is likely to have something up his sleeve.

Tipperary and Cork meet in the All Ireland for the first time, with Cork heavily-favourited across the land. Will this hype train be derailed the Premier County on Sunday afternoon, or will the Rebels prevail for the first time in 20 years.

Lastly, it's Rory in Portrush - what else is there to say?