Laravel 5.4 field doesn't have a default value

I am having this error and none of the googled result i checked is similar to my problem.

I have an application with class Deal, User, and Matches

A deal has many matches. A user has many matches. A user has many deals.

I am attempting to create a new Match using my Deal object

$deal->matches()->create(['user_id'=>$id]);

This is my match class, i have defined all needed relationships

class Match extends Model

{ //

/**
 * The attributes that are mass assignable.
 *
 * @var array
 */
protected $guarded = [];
public $timestamps = false;
public $expired_on = "";


public static function boot()
{
    parent::boot();

    static::creating(function ($model) {
        $model->matched_on = $model->freshTimestamp();
    });
}

public function __construct(){
    $d = (new \DateTime($this->matched_on))->modify('+1 day');
    $this->expired_on = $d->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');
}


/**
 * Get the user that owns the match.
 */
public function user()
{
    return $this->belongsTo('App\User');
}

/**
 * Get the deal that owns the match.
 */
public function deal()
{
    return $this->belongsTo('App\Deal');
}

}

And i keep getting this error when i attempt to create a new match.

QueryException in Connection.php line 647: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1364 Field 'user_id' doesn't have a default value (SQL: insert into matches (deal_id) values (1))

I have my guarded to be an empty array, what could be the problem?

via John David