Preview

2016 was a great year for the NWSL as the league marked a record fourth season for professional women’s soccer in America. Meanwhile, the US Women’s National Team had a disappointing year, finishing medal-less in Rio following the high of winning the World Cup in 2015. 

Here is a look at the key dates throughout 2017 for both the league and the national team: 

January 1st - Collective Bargaining Agreement Ended

Liverpool will host Manchester City at home on the New Year’s Eve, as both sides chase Chelsea in the table. 

This matchup promises to be the most exciting fixture yet in the current Premier League season, as the two most attacking sides go head-to-head with 84 league goals scored between them.

The two sides also share the weakness in the back, with both having the most goals conceded among the current top six, as they have given up a combined 41 goals. If stats are anything to go by, this fixture should provide plenty of goals with end-to-end excitement.

The biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup returns in 2017, and the continental governing body for the region has announced that the tournament, which runs from July 7-26, will be played out in 13 cities across the United States.

The 14th edition of the tournament will be contested by 12 teams, beginning with the group stage in early July. Of the three groups, we now know that Group B will be headlined by the United States and Group C will have Mexico.

Tigres and America clash in the finals of the 2016 Liga MX Apertura playoffs, the two-legged final taking place on Thursday, December 22nd and Sunday, December 25th. America are looking for title number 13 in their centennial season while Tigres seek their fifth championship. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the match, either live streaming online or on TV through your cable provider.

There’s no escaping the fact that the draws for the Champions League and the Europa League are ridiculous. These hugely overdone gala affairs take three hours to achieve what could be done in ten minutes. The saving graces - scowling club directors, getting to see Clarence Seedorf again - are vastly overshadowed by the ludicrous complexity of everything and UEFA’s willingness to blow their own trumpet at every conceivable opportunity. The entire event is comical, but it doesn’t really matter.

The 2016-17 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw took place early Monday morning in Nyon, Switzerland and left us with some very entertaining match ups:

Yeo Moriba, the mother of Paul, Florentin and Mathias Pogba, is one of our favorites over at The18. From her spot in the the Adidas “Football Needs Creators” ad (“He’s always been very creative, doing everything his own way”) to raising three sons by herself on a housing estate outside of Paris, Yeo Moriba is the matriarch for us.

The 2016-17 Champions League Group Stage has finished with all the usual contenders set to battle it out in the round of 16. Monday’s draw has handed us the following match ups:

The College Cup has finally arrived in Houston, home to this season's semifinals and final, and Stanford looks poised to become only the second team to win repeat championships. The last team to do it was Indiana in 2003 and 2004. With their defeat of Louisville in the quarterfinals, Stanford will now play the ninth-seeded University of North Carolina in the semifinals on Friday night.

Stanford vs. University of North Carolina | Friday, 8:45 PM ET | ESPNU