The Seattle Sounders are slight favorites to repeat as MLS Cup champions, but several teams are considered strong contenders with the playoffs set to begin Friday.
The Sounders tied with Sporting Kansas City atop the Western Conference standings with 39 points, although Seattle played one more game. Sporting KC open the playoffs being offered at 8-1 to win the MLS Cup by SportsBetting.com.
When Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann returns to face his former club Atlético Madrid in LaLiga on Saturday the Frenchman could be forgiven for wondering how things might have been different had he stayed at the Wanda Metropolitano.
First of all, the chances are that Griezmann will be on the bench as his current and former employers battle. After leaving Atléti, where he was the star man, for the Camp Nou in 2019 few things have gone right for Griezmann. He has struggled to find the form that persuaded the Catalans to pay his $141.98 million release clause.
David Beckham has closed a $20 million deal with Netflix for his new documentary. The former England captain will be the subject of a documentary, co-produced by his production company, Studio 99. The documentary will take viewers inside Beckham's rise to fame as a soccer player and international icon.
Atlético Madrid striker Luis Suárez has talked up his side's LaLiga title chances ahead of next week's showdown against former club Barcelona, saying his side's strong start to the campaign could give them an edge.
Atlético have won five of their first seven games and are the only unbeaten side in the top flight, while champions Real Madrid and Barça have already lost two games each. Real Sociedad are top of the standings with 20 points while Atlético are third on 17 but have two games in hand. Real Madrid are fourth, while Barça are eighth.
The U.S. Women's National Team will return from an extended break due to the COVID-19 pandemic with an exhibition game against the Netherlands on Nov. 27.
The rematch of the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup final, won 2-0 by the Americans, will be played at Rat Verlegh Stadium in Breda, Netherlands, about 67 miles south of Amsterdam. There will be no fans in the stands. The U.S. squad last played March 11, when it beat Japan 3-1 to win the SheBelieves Cup in Frisco, Texas.
Unless the Independent Supporters Council decides to cancel it, the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs are here. It promises to be a dramatic and unpredictable road to Toronto versus Seattle in the final on December 12, but we’re here to restore your faith in the media like a tried and trusted pollster with our MLS Cup playoff predictions.
(8) New England Revolution vs. (9) Montreal Impact
Friday, Nov. 20 | 6:30 p.m. ET | FS1
The 2020 Liga MX Apertura regular season (renamed Guardianes to honor healthcare workers) came to a close on Sunday to finalize positions for the reformatted liguilla.
The number of teams that qualify for the playoffs has been raised from eight to 12 due to the shortened season, although the top four teams still qualify directly to the quarterfinals whereas seeds five through 12 must now navigate a single-leg play-in round to make up the last eight.
The Covid-19 pandemic has thrown soccer schedules into immense disarray. While this is nothing compared to the tragic loss of life (more than 235,000 dead in the U.S. alone as cases continue to soar to record numbers), it has resulted in the U.S. national teams having not played in months. The women last played in March while the men’s only game in 2020 so far was in February. It makes predicting a USMNT starting 11 more difficult than ever — but also more fascinating.
It’s been almost a full year since we saw a USMNT with European-based talent defeat Cuba 4-0 to advance to the Nations League Final Round — although a largely domestic-based squad defeated Costa Rica back in February — but the U.S. is finally able to welcome its Yanks Abroad back into the fold for a pair of November friendlies against Wales in Swansea and Panama in Austria.
In all honesty, we’ve only just begun to see the torrential number of ways in which COVID-19 can disrupt football in a purely sporting sense.
Major League Soccer’s regular season has been severely disrupted by the pandemic with a logjam of postponed matches that can no longer be completed before the start of the playoffs, forcing qualification to be determined on a points-per-game basis rather than the final standings.