Premier League Match Week 2 Update
It’s Back!!!! The English Premier League kicks off the 2020/2021 season next weekend with games starting on Saturday. Have I mentioned it’s the most difficult league in Soccer. Have I mentioned even the 20th rated team likely can beat a top ranked team on any given weekend. I think I have…..but here we go. Can Liverpool maintain the standard of excellence of this past season when they crushed the points and led wore to wire, winning easily. Will Manchester City and Pep make it a two horse race? Can Arsenal maintain their late season form and be a contender? Can Chelsea’s 6 major new signings catapult them up the charts? Will Manchester United be consistent all season and get back into a title chase? Is Leicester City fading? Can Tottenham make a jump with Mourinjo and another year to work his 3-year magic? Get your popcorn ready, this should be a good one.
A little tease….if you were ever curious how talented these top players are…check out this little snippet of a few top young Chelsea players messing around. Including Captain America…Christian Pulisic. Fun stuff.
UEFA Nations League has started their second Match Day and teams are beginning to advance. It is an interesting concept, a third big UEFA tournament in addition to World Cup and the European Championships. Its 55 teams broken up into 4 distinct groups of teams. In general, the intent of the Nations league is to replace some of the International Friendlies that occur each year, as well as use the games as part of qualifying for European Championships as well as World Cup qualifying. For Group A, the top 16 clubs in Europe, there is a semi-final and final after the early rounds. In the inaugural nations League, Portugal was cropped Champion in 2018. The League ruins biennially….I think that means every two years :). Fro the other three groups, there is relegation and promotion aspects to consider. The lowest team in each group is relegated down, while winners from B-C-D are promoted. Over time, clubs can make their move up the rankings to earn a shot at a Nations Cup title. In the top 16 and going for a title from Group A include:
- Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Poland
- Belgium, England, Ireland, Denmark
- Portugal, France, Sweden, Croatia,
- Spain, Ukraine, Germany, Switzerland
This should get exciting as Group A advances into the next rounds. Some highlights of one of the top games so far.
MLS Update
We are about halfway thru the adjusted MLS season of 18 games and Playoffs. Teams will continue games until early November at which time the Top 18 will make the playoff rounds commencing with the MLS Cup on December 12th. Soccer in a snow storm is a distinct possibility with many top teams playing in the North. The top teams from each conference as of this week.
Eastern Conference Top 5
- Columbus Crew 20 Points
- Toronto FC 18 Points
- Orlando City 16 Points
- Philadelphia 15 Points
- Montreal Impact 13 Points
Western Conference Top 5
- Sporting KC 17 Points
- Seattle Sounders 15 Points
- Houston dynamo 13 Points
- LASFC 12 Points
- Minnesota FC 12 Points