If you were busy and couldn't catch the last seven months of the MLS season, here’s what you missed: LAFC and NYCFC crushed it, Cincinnati did the opposite and everyone else was more or less the same, which is why 60 percent of teams make the playoffs. You also missed some fiendishly good goals and saves.
Not to worry: MLS released its nominees for both the AT&T Goal of the Year and the Allstate Save of the Year on Wednesday.
Decision Day (or as some of the players call it, Judgment Day) is one of the best days of the year for MLS fans. Similar to Championship Sunday, every game kicks off at the same time while teams try to grab a playoff spot or jostle for home-field advantage in the postseason.
While some teams were already eliminated before Sunday's concluding matches, there was only one game that didn't affect playoff births and positionings across the league.
The European transfer window has been closed for 31 days now, which is just enough time for layman to speak in absolutes. Of course we’re primarily talking about 21-year-old American Christian Pulisic, who had a solid game and an assist versus Norwich back on Aug. 24 before his career was ended by not making the 18 against Lille yesterday.
It doesn’t matter that wide attacking players like…
Things are heating up in the Champions League (read: Real Madrid bottom of Group A) and there’s no surer sign of the increase in dramatics than managers getting booked. In a first for the Champions League, coaches can now be on the receiving end of both yellow and red cards from the match official, and although Match Day 1 of the competition came and went without history being made, Match Day 2 brought the moment we’d all been waiting for.
Although she finished eighth in The Best FIFA Women’s Player 2019 voting, Lyon attacker Ada Hegerberg was omitted from the first-ever FIFPro Women’s World11 due to the inclusion of Marta in attack. With all due respect to Marta’s legacy, the 33-year-old playmaker didn’t warrant her place after scoring five goals and providing zero assists in 12 appearances for the NWSL’s worst team before a disappointing World Cup that included zero goals from open play and zero assists in three games.
West Ham painted an unflattering picture of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Manchester United on Sunday afternoon with a commanding 2-0 victory over the visitors at London Stadium.
Without the injured trio of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw, Man United’s attack floundered and West Ham’s midfield trio of Declan Rice, Mark Noble and Felipe Anderson did a solid number on United’s ponderous pairing of Nemanja Matić, Scott McTominay and Juan Mata.
With this week's Champions League matchups done and dusted, you might be tempted to think European football is finished until the weekend. Well think again! The Europa League kicks of today and there are a ton of matches worth getting excited about. Here are the 10 I'm most excited about, and my corresponding predictions for each match.
Basel vs. Krasnodar
In today’s world of inundating social media feeds, labyrinthine methods of escapism and banging SoundCloud profiles, it’s not enough to throw a jersey on your club’s star player and expect to move units. You gotta get all the world’s most innovative brand specialists together and hit the people with something so profound that it’d seduce your dad quicker than Billie Eilish working the register at a Bass Pro Shop.
Major League Soccer announced a multi-year partnership with BodyArmor on Tuesday, making the brand the Official Sports Drink of MLS beginning in 2020. So instead of the customary Gatorade shower, Adrian Heath will be doused in a premium blend of coconut water-infused Knockout Punch after Minnesota United wins the MLS Cup next year.
The world’s greatest club tournament demands the world’s greatest Champions League predictions, and The18 is here to bring you just that.
You’ll want to bookmark this page and check back every match week for our updated Champions League predictions for the 2019-20 season.
Last year, Liverpool took the UCL title but, more importantly, Connor Fleming claimed The18’s Champions League predictions title with a not-too-shabby 65-60 record predicting win-lose-or-draw for every match.