Opinion

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. 

Despite the fact most everyone in the world has played soccer at some point in their lives, professional footballers — players and managers — possess knowledge far beyond that of the average Sunday leaguer. So it makes to take a football MasterClass from one of these experts, giants of their field. 

We’ve put together a list of the 18 football MasterClass courses we want to see from famous soccer players and coaches. 

It’s almost game time and your fridge is empty, your pantry barren and stomach grumbling. You gotta eat something fast, but you don’t have anything in your house. What do you do? Ideally, you’re not stupid enough to let this happen, but we get it, sometimes you just forget. In that case, we’ve got just the list for you: the best fast food to eat before a soccer match.

We at The18 have done our due diligence to find the best fast-food items to eat before a game, taking into account price, taste and how you’ll feel after, with a little effort toward trying to eat healthily. 

Those shouting at your screen after reading the title because we are only four games into the season, because you don't like Kevin De Bruyne or for a number of other reasons, I get it. Believe me, I do, I’ve been there. Just hear me out.

The 2019 Ballon d’Or will be presented in December, and the three front runners will all be confident of their chances at lifting the famous award. For both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, it could just be one of their final chances. They're each aiming for a sixth win. Meanwhile, for Virgil van Dijk it would be tremendous recognition of a fine season spent leading Liverpool to European glory and an incredible run in the Premier League.

From a USMNT perspective, a look at the MLS goalscoring charts isn’t a heartening experience. With 13 goals in 27 games — four of them coming in one match against a lifeless Chicago Fire — 36-year-old Chris Wondolowski is the top goalscoring American. In second is Gyasi Zardes, who has more than a half-century of caps and only one important goal in his international career. That was a tap-in from less than a yard out. 

Manchester United was held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Southampton at St. Mary's on Saturday. It was a match that was crucial for United to get back in the race for a top four spot. The Red Devils failed to capitalize or even trouble the Saints after Kevin Danso received his second yellow card of the afternoon in the 73rd minute. It seemed to be that same old story for United — what little preseason optimism left is now gone. What’s worse is that Manchester United has only won three Premier League games in its past 16.

It's been a while since MLS fans have heard the name Erick "Cubo" Torres. Once the lone bright spot for failing Chivas USA, a 20-year-old Cubo Torres scored 22 goals in 44 appearances for the now-defunct club. He was hailed as one of the young guns that was going to make a huge impact in MLS and eventually with the Mexico national team.