82 days have passed since we put a lid on the 2016-17 Premier League season, but now it’s time to do it all over again. We’ll be treated to the same storylines we’ve all come to know and love (Arsenal in crisis, Newcastle United on the verge of self-inflicted implosion, Manchester City spend a lot of money), but we’ve also been provided with some fresh takes to look forward to.
According to the latest FIFA World Rankings, Switzerland will approach the 2018 FIFA World Cup bracketed amongst the traditional favorites of Brazil, Germany and Argentina. Those are the only three nations above them in the latest August rankings. It’s easy to laugh at the Swiss opening up a sizable gap over the traditional European powers of France, Spain, Italy and England, but there’s no reason to not have them pegged as dark horses in Russia.
With the start of the 2017-18 European season only days away, we take a look at all three promoted clubs in Europe's top four divisions (EPL, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga).
Newcastle United
Jose Mourinho is wary of facing a West Ham side that “looks like they are playing to win the Premier League” in Manchester United’s opening fixture of the season, citing the Hammers’ ambitious moves for Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and striker Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez in the summer window.
The hype for the 2017-18 La Liga season has been decidedly low-key, and for good reason. Is there really any stopping Real Madrid? The club’s loss of Alvaro Morata hasn’t exceptionally weakened them, and capturing Kylian Mbappe would mean that we’re about 20 years away from parity being restored to European competition.
The Gold Cup doesn’t exactly excite quite like the Euros, Copa America or even the Confederations Cup. There are really only three, maybe four, quality teams and the chances of getting CONCACAF’d are higher than ever.
Even though odds are stacked in favor of Mexico or the United States winning in the end, there are reasons to watch the other 10 countries competing over the month of July.
The Gold Cup cometh, and with disgraced former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb no longer around to taketh, the 2017 edition of the biennial championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region promises to giveth in abundance.
Beginning with a titanic clash between French Guiana and Canada on Friday, July 7 and culminating on Wednesday, July 26 with the final in Santa Clara, California, we’ll be treated to three weeks of CONCACAF’y tomfoolery.
Last campaign, Roma set a club record in Serie A for most points in a season. They had never reached 87 points before, even when winning the Scudetto. So, obviously, the summer has consisted of parting ways with the manager, the sporting director, the legendary club captain, their most productive attacker and at least one of their coveted center backs. Of course, looking at the departures on an individual basis, they sort of make sense. But it’s still a weird summer for Roma.
Bruce Arena has finalized his 23-man roster for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and it’s an interesting mix of veteran players that are desperate to impress and make one final World Cup squad while the next generation of talent aims to prove that their time has arrived.
While every player on the roster stands to either gain or lose a lot with regards to the ultimate goal of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, here are five players that could use this tournament as a springboard to more important roles next summer.
Without trying to quantify the emotional side plots that make the U.S. Open Cup fifth round meeting between FC Cincinnati and the Chicago Fire so intriguing, we can objectively say that there’s never been a USOC match (at least outside of the final) as eagerly anticipated as this one.
For starters, a record attendance was on hand to watch Cincinnati defeat the Columbus Crew in the fourth round. With over 18,000 tickets having already been sold for Wednesday night’s match, Cincinnati are going to come close to matching or bettering that number.