Page 108 – The Pulse of Football

Jul

2023

MLS Team of the Week – Matchday 22

As Major League Soccer awaits the arrival of Argentina’s World Cup winning captain and talisman Lionel Messi, fans of the league, and especially those of Atlanta United are already enjoying the performances of another Argentine World Cup winner.

Thiago Almada leads the way in our Player Power rankings for Matchday 22, amid a number of outstanding performers represented in both the team of the week and our five standout picks.

As is often the case in MLS, there are plenty of attacking midfielders among the league’s most eye-catching players, and Matchday 22 was one of those weeks where a number of creative, inventive attacking talents excelled for their respective teams.

By James Nalton, MLS expert

Thiago Almada (Atlanta United)

When Argentina lifted the trophy in Qatar last December, Almada became the first active MLS player to win the World Cup.

As is the case with many players of his age range, stature, and quality in this league, Almada is constantly linked with a move away from it.

This was the case for another former Atlanta star, Miguel Almirón, who left for English Premier League side Newcastle United in 2019, having been part of Atlanta’s MLS Cup win in 2018.

Atlanta have struggled since that early success, but in Almada, they have a player who could steer the team to play-off glory in 2023 – IF he stays until the end of the season.

His performance against Philadelphia Union this weekend was far from his best in an Atlanta shirt, but it was still at a level to make him one of the standout players of Matchweek 22. His normal, regular level being so good is why he stands out so much in this league.

He opened the scoring for United from a free-kick situation. His shot from the set piece rebounded off a busy wall, but he was on hand to steer the rebound home, showing good technique to get over a bouncing ball and scythe it into the net from just outside the area.

Almada also gets the assist for his side’s second goal, spotting the run of right-wing-back Brooks Lennon down the right and making it easy for his teammate to double the lead.

Almada leads the league for assists with nine, big chances created (14) and expected assists per 90 (0.37).

Emanuel Reynoso (Minnesota United)

Another Argentine attacking midfielder has returned to the league in recent weeks having resolved some personal, family issues, back home.

Reynoso missed the first few months or so of the 2023 season, but on his return looks comfortable in the team, comfortable with his situation in Minnesota, and in good shape to make a difference for Adrian Heath’s side.

“His attitude since he has been back has been absolutely first class,” Heath said last month.

“There’s intensity in every session he’s done and he looks great physically. He put himself in a position where we could start him [in games] if we wanted.”

And Reynoso has started the last two games, scoring once in the tie with Real Salt Lake last week and twice in the 4-1 rout of Portland in Matchday 22.

His first against the Timbers was an “Olimpico” i.e., scored directly from a corner kick, and his second was a tap-in at the far post assisted by the next player up in our Player Power rankings.

Reynoso also attempted 10 dribbles in this match, completing just four of them, but demonstrating his desire to make things happen and push this team forward.

Bongokuhle Hlongwane (Minnesota United)

As Reynoso deservedly takes the headlines, it might be easy to overlook the contribution of South African winger Hlongwane to this game, and to any success this team could have and is having this season.

The 23-year-old is fifth in all of MLS for expected goals (7.8) or fourth for this particular stat if penalty kicks are removed from the equation.

His expected assists total of 3.8 puts him among the top players in the league for goalscoring and creative metrics combined and suggests there is much more to come from a player who has five goals and one assist from these underlying numbers.

The return of Reynoso and the addition of Teemu Pukki in the upcoming summer transfer window could see Hlongwane add to his tallies.

“I’ve been watching him since I was young,” Hlongwane said of Pukki, speaking to Sota Soccer. “The only thing we need to do is pass him the ball. He can score, he’s a good striker with experience from Europe.

“I know him from Norwich in England. He played very well there and I have been watching him since I was young.”

Hlongwane’s cross from the right put the ball on a plate for Reynoso to score the team’s fourth goal against Portland. The convincing win keeps Minnesota well and truly in the race for the playoffs, and maybe even primed for a surge to the top of the table in what is a tightly-packed Western Conference.

Facundo Torres (Orlando City)

Orlando’s Uruguayan attacker continued his goalscoring spree with a brace in a 3-1 win against Chicago Fire on Matchday 22.

The 23-year-old now has four goals in his last four games having only scored twice in his previous 13 appearances this season.

His first in this game came from a header following a nice cross from the right from full-back Kyle Smith, before adding his side’s second by sending a penalty kick straight down the middle.

Torres will be key for Orlando and will need to keep up this goalscoring form if they are to join the chasing pack behind FC Cincinnati in the East.

He’s getting in the right areas to do so, as shown by the header, and looks safe from the spot so far having scored 7/7 in his career.

Randall Leal (Nashville SC)

Nashville’s versatile attacking midfielder may have missed out on a place in Costa Rica’s Gold Cup squad, but he showed them what they are missing with a standout performance in a 2-0 win against DC United.

He became the latest player to take advantage of Tyler Miller’s hit-and-miss sweeper-keeping when he rounded the stranded DC goalie on the edge of the area having been put through by a great pass from deep by Hany Mukhtar.

Leal was then on hand to take advantage of more confused DC defending, somehow ending up with the ball despite being surrounded by three or four opposition players before firing past Miller from the right.

This made it two goals from two shots on the night for Leal, who is back in the team following time out through injury earlier in the season, taking some of the weight off Mukhtar’s shoulders as Nashville continue to chase down FC Cincinnati at the top of the Eastern Conference.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2023 MLS season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

FIVE games to follow this weekend: Champions League, Gold Cup, U21 Euros, and more

In this weekend preview we summarise the best five games to follow on your match feed. And make a couple of suggestions for matches that you may otherwise miss.

By Bill Biss

🏆 Champions League Preliminary Round: Budućnost Podgorica vs. Breiðablik

For those of you who are unaware, the 2023/24 Champions League is already underway! The Preliminary Round of the long qualifying process started, in Iceland, this past Tuesday. And now, tonight, we have the final between Icelandic side Breiðablik and Budućnost Podgorica, who hail from Montenegro.

Breiðablik will start as favourites, not least because they are hosting the four-team tournament, but also because of the ease with which they got past San Marino’s Tre Penne in their semi-final.

With the Icelandic season in full swing, the timing of these matches also suits the hosts but Budućnost Podgorica showed their credentials, with a 3-0 win, when they met Andorran side Atlètic d’Escaldes in their previous game. And they are fresh from a very tight title race in Montenegro which they won only by virtue of having a superior head-to-head record against rivals Sutjeska.

The winners of this tie go on to face Shamrock Rovers in the first round of qualifying proper and they’ll need to win through a further two rounds to take one of the remaining places in the hallowed Group Stages.

🏆 Gold Cup: United States vs. Trinidad & Tobago

This weekend also brings us Matchday 3 in the Group Stages of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and on Sunday night, the USMNT, the defending champions, go up against Trinidad and Tobago.

The situation in the group means that the US still require at least a draw to make it through to the knockout phase of the competition. And this game will be all about maintaining momentum after they backed up last weekend’s disappointing draw with Jamaica by running riot against minnows St. Kitts and Nevis during the week.

The US notched up 34 shots in a display that showed plenty of attacking intent – particularly from hat-trick hero Jesus Ferreira, and Đorđe Mihailović, who had four goal contributions, as both recorded matching 9.6 FotMob ratings.

In the group’s other final game, Jamaica will qualify for the quarter-finals if they can pull off a similar result against St. Kitts and Nevis.

🏆 Gold Cup: Mexico vs. Qatar

A little later, on Sunday, we’ll see how regional giants Mexico fare against tournament guest nation Qatar. El Tri have already secured their quarter-final spot after starting with a comfortable win over Honduras (4-0) and eventually breaking down a resilient Haitian side on Thursday night (3-1).

And no doubt, still smarting from their recent Nations League Final defeat to the US, they’ll be looking to complete a full sweep of group stage wins.

Their globe-trotting opponents made it to the semi-finals when they were invited to take part in the 2021 edition of this tournament but, in truth, their progress in international football has stalled of late. And after gaining a single point from their two games so far, they’ll need a win, and a favour from Honduras, in order to take second place in the group. The Qataris have just one victory in their last nine competitive games, a run that dates back to before the World Cup they hosted in 2022.

🏆 U21 Euros: Georgia vs. Israel

UEFA’s U21 European Championship is one stage further on with the quarter-finals set to start on Saturday afternoon. And in a somewhat surprising turn of events, co-hosts Georgia feature in the opening game, against Israel.

Such is the success of the Georgian youngsters, the game has had to be moved to a bigger stadium. That’s after the hosts finished top of the ‘Group of Death’, beating Portugal, before going on to secure draws against both Belgium and the Netherlands. The latter encounter was watched by a tournament record crowd of over 43,000.

Now, the side, which boasts a number of fully fledged senior internationals, must start as favourites against an Israeli team who qualified for the knockout stages with four points after holding Germany to a draw, and beating Czechia in their final game.

🏆 U21 Euros: England vs. Portugal

On the same side of the draw, but playing on Sunday, England face Portugal. The Young Lions have put in three dominant displays, so far, recording three back-to-back 2-0 wins to top Group C.

With the wealth of talent that Lee Carsley has at his disposal that perhaps shouldn’t be surprising – Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe, Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon, and Villa starlets Jacob Ramsey and Cameron Archer have provided the goals.

Portugal got over that shock defeat to Georgia in their opening game, drawing with Netherlands, and then scrapping through to the knockouts thanks to a win against Belgium secured by a Tiago Dantas penalty scored in the 89th minute.

Plus two hidden gems from a little deeper in your match feed…

🇺🇸 MLS: San Jose Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy

Long before LAFC joined Major League Soccier, and El Tráfico became a regular feature on the fixture list, LA Galaxy had a well-established rivalry with fellow Californians, San Jose Earthquakes. And this Saturday, the two are set to meet in the 97th edition of the Cali Clasico.

After finishing rock bottom of the Western Conference last year, 2023 has been far kinder to the Quakes, and they go in to the weekend sat fifth in the table, 12 points better off than their rivals. However, that advantage would have been much greater had their form not taken a significant dip following recent defeats to higher ranked sides, Houston and St. Louis.

For Galaxy, it’s been a season of turmoil both on and off the field. On it, they’ve recorded just three wins and things probably reached a nadir when they drew with Colorado last weekend, the only side with a worse record across the entire league, not just the Conference. That was their third successive draw but there is, at least, one glimmer of hope for the fans – one of their three wins came against San Jose back in May (2-1).

🇲🇽 Liga MX: Tigres vs. Puebla

Much like the league north of the border, Mexico’s domestic league starts again this weekend, despite the fact that the national team are away participating in a major tournament.

And from the opening round of Apertura fixtures, we’ve picked out the one between Tigres UANL and Puebla, which takes place on Saturday night. The Apertura is the first of the two campaigns that will played across the 2023/24 season in Mexico, and will be followed by it’s own play-off sequence.

Puebla ended the most recent Clausura campaign in fifth but were knocked out of the post-season play-offs by a Tigres side, who despite finishing a lowly seventh, went on to win the entire thing. Their run to the title included wins over Monterrey, who had finished the regular season in first, and then Chivas, in the Final. To cap things off Tigres also won last weekend’s Campeón de Campeones title against Pachuca, who’d picked up last season’s Apertura.

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO

Jun

2023

Transfer Roundup: Havertz, Maddison, and more

The transfer window has well and truly kicked off over the past week with some big moves now finalised.

By Sam McGuire

James Maddison

Leicester City to Tottenham

Fee: £40million

Tottenham’s interest in Maddison dates back a couple of years but it came as a bit of a surprise to see them sign the England international after their eighth-place finish last season. The 26-year-old was always going to be on the move this summer after Leicester’s relegation but it had appeared as though Newcastle might be his most likely destination. There had even been some suggestion that Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool all might make a move for the former Norwich City playmaker.

Maddison was one of the star performers for the Foxes in what was a disappointing season, scoring 10 times and assisting nine. During the 2021/22 campaign, he finished with 20 goal involvements in the Premier League. He’s a dual threat – he’s a reliable goal outlet and a creative menace – and he will add some guile to a new-look Spurs team under Ange Postecoglou.

Kai Havertz

Chelsea to Arsenal

Fee: £65million

As soon as it was clear that Chelsea would entertain offers for the Germany international, the expectation was that he would return to the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich primed to add him to their attack. There was even some talk that Real Madrid might move for him following the departure of Karim Benzema, so it was a bit of a surprise when Arsenal went big on the 6ft3 attacker.

The Gunners paid a reported £65million to sign the 24-year-old and Mikel Arteta plans to use him in midfield next season. He didn’t have the best of times at Stamford Bridge but if he’s able to rediscover his Bayer Leverkusen form – he scored 29 times across two Bundesliga campaigns as a teen – Arsenal will be even more of a threat during the 2023/24 campaign. After all, the Spanish tactician helped develop Martin Ødegaard into a 15-goal-a-season midfielder.

Edouard Mendy

Chelsea to Al Ahli

Fee: £16million

Mendy had a strange Chelsea career. During his debut season with the club, he was one of the best goalkeepers in the world as the Blues claimed the Champions League trophy. He even equalled a European record by keeping nine clean sheets throughout the competition.

The former Rennes shot-stopper won the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award, helped Chelsea win the Club World Cup and was pivotal in Senegal being victorious in the African Cup of Nations. Graham Potter’s appointment saw Mendy lose his place in the starting XI to Kepa and he went on to make just 12 appearances across the 2022/23 campaign.

He’s one of a number of Chelsea players to move to Saudi Arabia this summer.

Marcus Thuram

Borussia Mönchegladbach to Inter

Fee: Free transfer

At one stage, it had appeared as though Thuram might be heading to Paris Saint-Germain. Following the expiration of his Gladbach contract, the 25-year-old was free to move and he finally settled on joining beaten Champions League finalists, Inter.

This has the potential to be one of the best signings of the summer. Thuram scored 13 times and assisted on six occasions in the Bundesliga last season on his way to a 7.3 FotMob rating. He’s a versatile goalscorer who could well be a good foil for Lautaro Martínez.

Mateo Kovačić

Chelsea to Manchester City

Fee: £24million

This transfer is one that suits all parties. Chelsea pocket £24m for a player who would’ve left for free in 12 months while treble-winners Manchester City get a highly technical player with plenty of experience to help fill part of the void left by İlkay Gündoğan. Then there’s Kovačić, who moves from a club in perpetual transition to arguably the most consistent team in world football, and one that might allow him to play his natural game.

It will, however, be interesting to see who else the champions bring in this summer to help bolster their midfield options.

Guglielmo Vicario

Empoli to Tottenham Hotspur

Fee: £16milion

Spurs needed to address the goalkeeping situation so it was no surprise to see them move for a shot-stopper this summer. What was a surprise, though, was who they brought in.

Empoli finished 14th in Serie A last term but Vicario’s performances earned him FotMob’s highest average rating, in the league, for his position. And he was therefore included in our Team of the Season. But what will likely interest Postecoglou is his ability with the ball. The 26-year-old is comfortable in possession and this is something the former Celtic boss can work with as he looks to put his stamp on things while finding a suitable successor to Hugo Lloris.

İlkay Gündoğan

Manchester City to Barcelona

Fee: Free Transfer

After seven trophy-filled years with Manchester City, Gündoğan decided to make the move to Barcelona. Under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, he developed into one of the most well-rounded midfielders in the world and his experience will no doubt help the likes of Pedri and Gavi, especially with the LaLiga champions losing Sergio Busquets this summer.

It will be interesting to see how Xavi plans to use the free-scoring 32-year-old. He can practically play any role in midfield to a ridiculously high level.

Kalidou Koulibaly

Chelsea to Al Hilal

Fee: £20million

Koulibaly is another to have a strange Chelsea career. He signed for the Blues last summer from Napoli and, at the time, it was considered to be quite the coup after a number of clubs had shown an interest in the 6ft1 centre-back.

He started well, scoring against Spurs, before being sent off in a heavy defeat to Leeds United. Koulibaly was in and out of the team before missing most of April and May with a hamstring injury. The 32-year-old has now been sold for a £10m loss just 12 months after signing.

Rúben Neves

Wolves to Al Hilal

Fee: £47million

Neves was another player heading into the final 12 months of his contract. The Wolves midfielder had been linked with moves away from Molineux in January but multiple reports said Barcelona would make their play for him in the summer. That might’ve been their plan but they likely didn’t expect Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal to offer £47m for the Portuguese international’s services.

This was a statement move for the club. Up until that point, only free transfers had been making the move to the Saudi league. All eyes will be on Wolves now to see how they replace their captain.

Christoph Baumgartner

Hoffenheim to RB Leipzig

Fee: £21million

RB Leipzig are starting to spend some of the Christopher Nkunku money. Baumgartner could prove to be a shrewd signing for the Bundesliga side. The 23-year-old is arguably just as versatile as Nkunku and there are plenty of positives to his game. He’s scored seven goals in three of the past four seasons and chips in with assists too.

His arrival coupled with Dani Olmo’s contract extension and the potential arrival of Fabio Carvalho on loan from Liverpool means Die Roten Bullen have plenty of attacking options next season.

(Images from IMAGO)

To keep track of all the latest deals, and even set alerts for transfers in your favourite leagues; head to the More tab in your app to find FotMob’s Transfer Centre. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

MLS Team of the Week – Matchday 21

Some new names to the Player Power rankings caught the eye in Major League Soccer’s Matchday 21 as the race for the playoffs and the Supporters’ Shield begin to take shape.

It’s been a tough schedule for MLS teams, especially as recent games have coincided with international breaks and missing players as a result.

This matchday followed a midweek round of games with barely a chance to pause for breath, but this provided an opportunity for those new faces to score highly in our ratings.

By James Nalton, MLS expert

Ryan Gauld (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Vancouver’s forward line is starting to click. It put six past Houston Dynamo earlier in the month, and in this most recent game scored three against MLS Cup champions Los Angeles FC.

Scottish designated player Ryan Gauld is a key part of this, contributing goals, and assists.

He assisted two of the goals against LAFC, one from a corner for Ranko Veselinović and another with a perfectly lofted cross from the left for Brian White, before scoring the third goal himself, which turned out to be the game-winner.

Since arriving in the league the 27-year-old has been one of its outstanding players, but this hasn’t always converted into wins for his team meaning he’s always been a level below those discussed as MLS MVP candidates.

If the Whitecaps can push on a be among the best teams in the league, as head coach Vanni Sartini believes they can, then Gauld will be viewed alongside the likes of Hany Mukhtar, Carles Gil, Thiago Almada et al.

“We showed today that no team in the league is better than us,” Sartini said following the LAFC win.

“We are still ninth, of course now because we have played two fewer games than other teams, but we need to aim for the sky because this team is really good.”

A Canadian Championship win earlier in the month, in which Gauld scored the winner from the penalty spot in the final against Montreal, means the team has already qualified for next season’s Concacaf Champions Cup, so can now focus on finishing as high as possible in the Western Conference.

Samuel Adeniran (St. Louis City)

Despite injuries to its two designated players, Eduard Löwen and João Klauss, expansion side St. Louis City remain top of the Western Conference.

A 2-1 win against San Jose Earthquakes on Matchday 21, thanks to the goals of Adeniran, helped it stay there for a little while longer as LAFC lurks just behind them with a game in hand.

This was Adeniran’s first start of the season having spent some time on loan with USL Championship side San Antonio FC.

The injury situation in St. Louis meant the Houston-born centre-forward was recalled shortly before this game, and it was a dream return, or introduction, to the team.

He scored twice, once from a header and another confidently from the penalty spot, to give his team the win.

“I think it will hit me on the plane,” Adeniran said after the game.

“I didn’t even really get a chance to train with the team and to be able to help the team in this way is a blessing. I’m really grateful.”

Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake)

It’s been a good month for the 19-year-old RSL attacker. After impressing at the U20 World Cup in Argentina, where his United States side went as far as the quarter-finals stage for the fourth tournament in a row, Luna returned to club football for a rare run of starts in MLS.

Luna has long been considered one of the league’s, and indeed the country’s, most talented young players, but has so far not seen as much regular senior-level club football as he and his admirers may have liked.

That has changed this month, fresh from some standout displays in Argentina, the hardworking, technically gifted attacker has started RSL’s last four games and made a good case for getting a run in the side for the rest of the season.

Luna scored his first MLS goal in a midweek matchday 3-1 win against St. Louis City last week, following it up with an assist and a FotMob Star Player performance in a 2-2 draw with Minnesota on the weekend.

In that most recent game, he created seven chances for his teammates with an expected assists score of 0.88, and has regularly shown his worth to the team on and off the ball in these past four games.

Mateusz Klich (DC United)

The former Leeds United midfielder is often close to being featured in these Player Power rankings but has never quite made the list of five… until now.

On Matchday 21 he was a key part of an impressive DC United win against the best team in MLS so far this season, and cannot be overlooked.

Klich‘s importance to the team is demonstrated by the fact he is fourth in MLS for chances created this season behind star names Cristian Espinoza, Thiago Almada, and Carles Gil.

He is also fourth in the league for expected assists, creating chances from set pieces as well as in open play.

The 33-year-old created five chances in the Cincinnati game alone, assisting the opening goal for Pedro Santos. It was his free-kick from deep which caused trouble for the Cincinnati defence for the second, too.

Cincinnati were without the likes of Yerson Mosquera, Matt Miazga and Brandon Vazquez due to international call-ups, but still had three of their most important players —Luciano Acosta, Alvaro Barreal, and Obinna Nwobodo—in the lineup.

The win meant DC United remains in touch with the playoff places with just over half of the season gone and the creative and attacking combination of Klich and Christian Benteke offers Wayne Rooney’s side hope of making the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Frankie Amaya (New York Red Bulls)

It was a short and sweet appearance for 22-year-old New York Red Bulls midfielder Amaya on Matchday 21.

It’s not easy to make the Player Power rankings having only entered the field on the 77th minute, but Amaya was perfect off the bench.

His two goals in 12 minutes helped finish off Atlanta United at the Red Bulls’ home in New Jersey, and he did everything right in those limited minutes he was on the pitch.

Two shots, two goals, albeit with help from slight deflections. Five out of five passes completed. One tackle attempted, one tackle won. One cross attempted, one cross completed.

It is a small sample size but it was enough to make an impact and become FotMob’s star of the game in this impressive 4-0 win, just ahead of fellow outstanding young American midfielder on the night, Daniel Edelman.

The Red Bulls have underperformed their xG so far this season, but this was an indication of what they can do if things go right and they get a bit more luck.

The team has turned a corner under new head coach Troy Lesesne and is slowly working its way towards the playoff spots.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2023 MLS season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

FIVE games to follow this weekend: Gold Cup, U21 Euros, and more

In this weekend preview we summarise the best five games to follow on your match feed. And make a couple of suggestions for matches that you may otherwise miss.

By Bill Biss

🏆 CONCACAF Gold Cup: United States vs. Jamaica

The Gold Cup, the premier international competition run by the CONCACAF federation begins on Saturday, just a week after the region’s Nations League Finals were played out in Las Vegas.

The US once again plays host to the tournament, alongside Canada, and its the home nation who kick-off proceedings with a Group A game against Jamaica. The USMNT are the reigning champions and they come in to the Gold Cup on form having beaten both their Northern and Southern rivals in last week’s Nations League Finals – dispensing with Mexico in the semi-finals before beating Canada this past Sunday. Not bad for a team currently playing under a second interim manager following the dismissal (Dec 2022) and forthcoming rehiring of coach Gregg Berhalter (announced June 2023).

For their part, Jamaica come in to the tournament having finished second behind Mexico in their Nations League A group back in March and might need some time to find their feet after recent friendly defeats to Qatar and Jordan. the Reggae Boyz haven’t actually recorded a win since June 2022.

🏆 U21 Euros: England vs. Israel

If you’ve been taking a brief break from football as last season came to an end, or you just haven’t been looking down your match feed, you may have missed that the U21 European Championship got underway during the week.

And in those opening group games, a heavily-favoured England side, full to the brim with established, or soon-to-be, established Premier League names were 2-0 winners over Czechia. The starting line-up for the Young Lions is shown below but that was backed up by the likes of Emile Smith-Rowe (who scored the second goal), Oliver Skipp, and Harvey Elliott, all coming off the bench.

Now, England face Israel on Sunday. With their nation’s youth football programme fresh from the surprise success of their U20 team, who made it to the semi-finals of the recent U20 World Cup in Argentina, Israel managed to hold defending champions Germany to a 1-1 draw on Thursday. Thanks – in the main – to goalkeeper Daniel Peretz who saved two German penalties during that game!

🏆 U21 Euros: Norway vs. France

Perhaps the team with the next highest profile at the U21 Euros, and actually, the bookies favourites, are France. Their squad contains the firepower of Amine Gouiri and Elye Wahi who scored 34 Ligue 1 goals between them last season, plus break-out stars such as Lorient’s Enzo Le Fee and Loic Badé, a Europa League winner with Sevilla.

The latter was sent off as they begain their campaign with a confidence building 2-1 win over Italy in midweek so they’ll be confident of going again, as they take on Norway, also on Sunday evening. Norway were beaten by Switzerland by the same scoreline in their opening group game so will need a result to maintain any hope of progressing to the knockout stages of the competition.

🇲🇽 LigaMX Campeón de Campeones: Pachuca vs. Tigres

After a long old season in Mexico finished at the end of May, we’re now already looking ahead to the next Apertura campaign starting in July. But before that, there’s the battle to decide last season’s champion of champions!

This game, akin to a Supercup, but not to be confused with the separate Supercopa tournament, pits the winners of the first half of last season (Apertura) – Pachuca, against the winners of the Clausura championship – Tigres UANL, who beat Chivas to that honour last month.

Unlike most other finals in Mexico, this will be a one-off game settled by extra-time, and penalties, if needed. All seven of the sides’ most recent meetings have ended in a home win but with this game being played on neutral ground (in the United States!) perhaps the form book goes out of the window.

🇧🇷 Brasileiro: Palmeiras vs. Botafogo

We’re only eleven rounds in to the Serie A season in Brazil but Sunday sees a key clash between the top two teams in the table with leaders Botafogo travelling to defending champions Palmerias.

Botafogo are something of a surprise package having finished eleventh last year on their return to the top flight following a one year absence in 2021. Their unlikely run appears to be built on a solid defence, instilled by Portuguese coach Luis Castro, and the goals of former Porto striker, Tiquinho.

Palmeiras, led by Abel Ferreira, their own coach from Portugal, have dominated South American football in recent times – winning the Copa Libertadores in back-to-back years (2020, 2021) and lifting their domestic cup in 2020 before last year’s league triumph. And although they’ve drawn a few games during the current campaign, they were unbeaten up until their midweek game at Bahia, where they went down to a 1-0 defeat, with the goal coming in stoppage time.

For their part, Botafogo secured a 1-0 win of their own, away to Cuiaba, thanks to a penalty from the aforementioned Tiquinho.

Plus two hidden gems from a little deeper in your match feed…

🇺🇸 MLS: LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

There was virtually a full-round of games played in MLS during the week and although there were other matches with more excitement, one result stood out, at least in terms of significance. And that was LAFC’s hard-fought 1-0 win over Seattle Sounders. Heading in to the game, the sides were sitting second and third in the Western Conference but LA, the current MLS Cup holders, managed to defend a lead that was established in the very first minute of the game. Veteran defender, the former Italian international, Giorgio Chiellini played his first full 90 minutes since April and did enough to earn himself a place in our midweek TOTW!

But, more importantly, the result lifted LAFC back to the top of the table above newcomers St. Louis City. The reigning champs were winless during the month of June, losing both legs of the CONCACAF Champions League Final to boot, but have now won back-to-back games for only the second time in the league this year.

We’ll see if they can now maintain a grip on pole position following the visit of mid-table Vancouver Whitecaps, on Saturday, with the Canadians presumably well rested having not played during the week.

🇳🇴 Eliteserien: Strømgodset vs. Bodø/Glimt

And lastly, we’ve selected a game from our home league, Norway’s Eliteserien. The 2020 and 2021 league champions, and famous Europa League / Europa Conference League giant killers, Bodø/Glimt have got off to a flyer in this 2023 season. They remain unbeaten after eleven rounds having dropped points on just one occasion, scoring 32 goals, and conceding just nine. And they already boast a ten point lead at the top of the table.

So, we’ve selected Sunday’s game, away at twelfth-placed Strømsgodset, in the hope that it will provide some entertainment. And an example of the best football currently on offer in Norway’s top flight. Failing that, we could see a freak result and a glimmer of hope restored for the rest of the teams in the league!

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO

Jun

2023

Transfer Roundup: Nkunku, Kulusevski, and more

The transfer window is yet to really kick into gear but the past week has been one of commitment, with a number of clubs turning loan moves into permanent ones. With that in mind, a look at some of the biggest moves over the past seven days.

By Sam McGuire

Christopher Nkunku

RB Leipzig to Chelsea

Fee: £57million

This has been one of the worst-kept secrets in football. The Blues reportedly agreed to pay the Frenchman’s release clause earlier in the season and it was only a matter of when the deal would be announced.

And that was finally confirmed this week with the Premier League side paying close to £60million for the 25-year-old. Nkunku was initially a creator but has 36 Bundesliga goals over the last two seasons and he chipped in with 17 assists. Remarkably, he involved himself in 20 goals last term in just 1,900 minutes in the German top-flight.

He’s now one of the most well-rounded forwards in Europe and will be an asset to Mauricio Pochettino next season.

Dejan Kulusevski

Juventus to Spurs

Fee: £30million

There had been reports over recent weeks which had claimed Spurs wouldn’t activate the clause in Kulusevski’s loan deal to keep him at the club. Fortunately for fans, these weren’t accurate and the 23-year-old is now staying in North London on a permanent basis.

Since moving from Juventus in January 2022, the Swedish international has been one of the more consistent performers for Spurs, registering 15 assists and seven goals in the Premier League. He finished the 2022/23 campaign with a FotMob rating of 7.1. Kulusevski is the sort of wide player that new manager Ange Postecoglou will love.

Mahmoud Dahoud

Borussia Dortmund to Brighton

Fee: Free

Dahoud’s spell with BVB didn’t really live up to expectations. The 27-year-old was one of the brightest talents in Germany when he emerged for Borussia Mönchengladbach and he was courted by a host of top clubs before his switch to Dortmund.

Injuries plagued him during his time with the club, so much so that he was limited to just four starts and nine appearances last term. When fit and firing, however, he is a high-quality midfielder who excels at retaining possession while progressing the ball.

Brighton are shrewd operators in the transfer market and with European football to contend with next season, Dahoud could be a clever bit of business.

Evan Ndicka

Eintracht Frankfurt to Roma

Fee: Free

At one stage it did look as though Ndicka would be heading to the Premier League.

He was linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United, but the 23-year-old versatile defender eventually settled on a move to Roma. The Frenchman will tick a lot of boxes for José Mourinho. The Portuguese tactician was famed for favouring defensively-minded full-backs and despite being a centre-back, Ndicka can play at on the left.

Coming in at 6’4″, he’s going to dominate some traditional wingers in Serie A. For a bit of context, during the 2021/22 campaign, he tackled 75% of the dribblers he faced in the Bundesliga.

Arkadiusz Milik

Marseille to Juventus

Fee: £5.4million

A few eyebrows were raised when Juventus decided to bring Milik back to the club on loan last season as cover for Dušan Vlahović. It ended up being an inspired decision by the Turin-based side, with the 29-year-old scoring seven times in a little under 1,600 minutes. Only Vlahović (10) and Adrien Rabiot (8) scored more for Max Allegri’s men last term.

He did enough to convince the Old Lady of Italian football to sign him on a permanent basis with Juventus paying parent club Marseille £5.4million to secure his services. It might not be the most exciting deal but it could prove to be a clever signing, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Vlahović’s future.

Giovani Simeone

Verona to Napoli

Fee: £10million

Victor Osimhen fired Napoli to the Serie A title last season but Simeone played his part in the success. The 27-year-old joined on loan from Verona as cover and only started once in the league but he did come off the bench on 24 occasions.

Despite his limited minutes (389 in total) he managed to score four goals and grab an assist. He also notched four times in the Champions League. He found the back of the net in wins over Liverpool, Ajax, Rangers, Milan and Roma, proving himself to be a valuable squad option. So it comes as no surprise that the Scudetto winners parted with a reported £10million to sign him on a permanent basis.

(Images from IMAGO)

To keep track of all the latest deals, and even set alerts for transfers in your favourite leagues; head to the More tab in your app to find FotMob’s Transfer Centre. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

Transfer Roundup: Nkunku, Kulusevski, and more

By Sam McGuire

Christopher Nkunku

RB Leipzig to Chelsea

Fee: £57million

This has been one of the worst-kept secrets in football. The Blues reportedly agreed to pay the Frenchman’s release clause earlier in the season and it was a matter of when the deal would be announced.

The deal was finally confirmed this week with the Premier League side paying close to £60million for the 25-year-old. Nkunku was initially a creator but has 36 Bundesliga goals over the last two seasons and he chipped in with 17 assists. Remarkably, he involved himself in 20 goals last term in just 1,900 minutes in the German top-flight.

He’s now one of the most well-rounded forwards in Europe and will be an asset to Mauricio Pochettino next season.

Dejan Kulusevski

Juventus to Spurs

Fee: £30million

Since moving from Juventus in January 2022, the Sweden international has been one of the more consistent performers for Spurs, registering 15 assists and seven goals in the Premier League. He finished the 2022/23 campaign with a FotMob rating of 7.1. Kulusevski is the sort of wide player that new manager Ange Postecoglou will love.

Mahmoud Dahoud

Borussia Dortmund to Brighton & Hove Albion

Fee: Free

Brighton are shrewd operators in the transfer market and with European football to contend with next season, Dahoud could be a clever bit of business.

Evan Ndicka

Eintracht Frankfurt to Roma

Fee: Free

At one stage it did look as though Ndicka would be heading to the Premier League.

Coming in at 6ft4, he’s going to dominate some traditional wingers in Serie A. For a bit of context, during the 2021/22 campaign, he tackled 75% of the dribblers he faced in the Bundesliga.

Arkadiusz Milik

Marseille to Juventus

Fee: £5.4million

He did enough to convince the Old Lady of Italian football to sign him on a permanent basis with Juventus paying Marseille £5.4million to secure his services. It might not be the most exciting deal but it could prove to be a clever signing, especially with the uncertainty surrounding Vlahović’s future.

Giovanni Simeone

Hellas Verona to Napoli

Fee: £10million

Victor Osimhen may have fired Napoli to the Serie A title last season but Simeone played his part in the success. The 27-year-old joined on loan from Verona as cover and only started once in the league but he did come off the bench on 24 occasions.

(Images from IMAGO)

To keep track of all the latest deals, and even set alerts for transfers in your favourite leagues; head to the More tab in your app to find FotMob’s Transfer Centre. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

MLS Team of the Week – Matchday 19

Major League Soccer ploughed on through the international break with a truncated matchday of six games.

It meant many of the league’s stars were missing, such as recent standout players Facundo Torres of Orlando who was with Uruguay, and Columbus Crew’s Lucas Zelarayan who starred in Armenia’s 4-2 win against Wales, but there was still plenty of quality to look out for.

As MLS continues to hold its breath in anticipation of the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, a Nashville SC player who is becoming a legend at the club in its short history showed his importance to his team, and that the league already has some star power.

And it’s there, in Nashville, where we begin our Matchday 19 MLS Player Power rankings.

By James Nalton, MLS expert

Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC)

The German attacker arrived in MLS as a Designated Player ahead of Nashville’s first season in the league in 2020.

He has since become one of the standout players in the competition. Last year he was named MLS MVP and in 2021 was named in the league’s best XI.

He has continued that form into the new season and this weekend’s performance against St. Louis City was one of his best in a season already full of standout moments.

It was his second hat-trick of the season, making it 13 goals in total, to go with six assists.

He also played a part in the moment that won his team the penalty and saw Kyle Hiebert sent off for St. Louis.

Through on goal, he showed his unselfishness by passing to Jacob Shaffelburg who was in a good position to score but was brought down by the St. Louis man already on a yellow card.

Mukhtar dispatched the penalty, of course, to go with his first-half effort, and eventually scored his third following a great move from Nashville that included a nice backheeled assist from Dax McCarty.

The 28-year-old looks set to be in the MVP conversation once again, and even with the arrival of a certain Argentine, he will remain one of the best players in MLS.

Pablo Ruiz (Real Salt Lake)

Another week in MLS, another goal from the halfway line. Last week it was Columbus Crew attacking midfielder Zelarayan catching out Chicago goalkeeper Spencer Richey.

This week it was RSL’s Argentinian taking advantage of what has become a high-profile issue at DC United.

DC United head coach Wayne Rooney had spoken this month about his goalkeeper Tyler Miller, who likes to sweep up behind the defence and join in with the buildup play, almost as a 12th outfield player. This can mean he is sometimes quite far off his line.

Atlanta’s Giorgos Giakoumakis took advantage of this last week after Miller came out to sweep up a ball but failed to do so, and Atlanta’s Greek striker scored in an empty net from a narrow angle.

“Someone is going to chip him at some point,” Rooney admitted to the Athletic this month. “That’s going to happen. He knows that. I’ve told him that. I accept that in terms of how I want him to play.”

And this is exactly what happened against RSL. Ruiz spotted Miller off his line, getting the perfect trajectory on a shot from just inside his own half to lift the ball over the stranded goalkeeper.

It sounds simple. Rooney pointed it out. Ruiz executed. But it is not easy to do in the middle of a competitive game. Maybe players can regularly pull off this type of shot in training, but lofting the ball over a retreating goalkeeper in a match is something else entirely.

Ruiz managed it though, and it was as impressive as Zelarayan’s strike a week earlier, if not more so as it found the top corner, and it more than earns him a place in our Player Power rankings for Matchday 19.

Carles Gil (New England Revolution)

New England’s Spanish maestro makes the Player Power rankings for the second matchday in a row, and it isn’t likely to be his last appearance on this list this season, either.

Gil continues to be one of the standout players in the league along with Mukhtar, whom he pipped to the MLS MVP award in 2021 as New England cruised to the top of the Eastern Conference standings and claimed the Supporters’ Shield in style.

The team is part of the group that is chasing Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati, and if Gil carries on this current form they will be up there challenging come the end of the season.

The Spaniard touched the ball 86 times in New England’s 3-1 win against Orlando City this weekend, creating three chances, completing three dribbles, and adding his name to the scoresheet for the second week in a row. It is now four goals in as many games for the 30-year-old.

The game also witnessed great strikes from New England’s Gustavo Bou and Emmanuel Boateng as Bruce Arena’s side remains unbeaten at home this season.

Aaron Long (LAFC)

The United States centre-back joined LAFC at the start of the season after his contract at New York Red Bulls came to an end. It’s been a step up for the 30-year-old who has also been called up to the national team for the Gold Cup, but he has eventually settled, playing a leadership role in the back line in the absence of Giorgio Chiellini.

LAFC has been struggling, though, and going into this weekend’s match against Sporting Kansas City hadn’t won in six games, including defeats in both legs of the Concacaf Champions League final against Club León.

The absence of star forward Denis Bouanga, who was on international duty with Gabon, made things even more difficult.

Sporting KC dominated possession in the game, and it looked like LAFC had done well to secure a point, but then Long spotted Carlos Vela in space behind the back line in added time.

At first, it looked like a clearance that just happened to find its way to the Mexican forward by chance, but on the replay, it was clear that this was a controlled, guided first-time pass from Long as the ball fell to him at waist height. Not an easy skill.

Vela had managed to stay in space as Sporting KC pushed up the field, but crucially had also managed to stay onside, so when Long’s long ball came in his direction he was on hand to race through on goal and score a dramatic, much-needed winner for last year’s MLS champions.

Daniel (San Jose Earthquakes)

There were a few solid goalkeeping performances in this latest weekend of MLS action – indeed our best rated keeper was Tyler Miller, but with DC United’s No. 1 already featuring heavily earlier in this article, let’s focus on a player who’s performances have stood out between the posts this year, Daniel of San Jose.

For many years now, the Earthquakes had been a team that leaked goals for fun. At times it seemed they literally did it for the fun of it too.

It added to the entertainment as they were involved in some crazy high-scoring games, but since a Supporters’ Shield win in 2012 the team has never looked solid enough to challenge for honours.

There are early signs that this year could be different, and Brazilian goalkeeper Daniel has played a big part in this.

The 29-year-old, who arrived in San Jose from Internacional in Brazil this season, has been good at keeping the goals against column lower than it perhaps should be for his side.

He is the best goalkeeper in MLS when it comes to post-shot expected goals minus goals allowed, with a score of +5.2 (FBref). I.e., he is saving more shots than might normally be expected according to the data related to the quality of shots he’s faced.

He has conceded just two goals in a run of five games since coming back into the team for San Jose’s other goalkeeper, JT Marcinkowski, keeping three clean sheets in that time.

A great save from a header by compatriot Evander Ferreira in the 0-0 draw against Portland this weekend ensured his side remained unbeaten in those five games since his return, and remain in contention to top the Western Conference.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every match from the 2023 MLS season live with FotMob — featuring deep stats coverage including shot maps, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

Transfer Centre Roundup: Messi, Mac Allister, Bellingham, and more

The transfer window is now open and teams have wasted very little time getting business done. In the first of a new weekly column, a look at some of the biggest moves this week.

By Sam McGuire

Alexis Mac Allister

Brighton to Liverpool

Fee: £35million

The 24-year-old World Cup winner was not short of suitors following an impressive campaign with Brighton. The Argentina international racked up a FotMob rating of 7.5, netting 10 times in the Premier League as Roberto De Zerbi’s men secured a Europa League spot.

Despite reported interest from Champions League clubs, Mac Allister opted to move to Liverpool in a deal believed to be worth £35million due to a clause in his contract.

It has the potential to be one of the signings of the summer and the Reds finally have a new No. 10.

Lionel Messi

Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami

Fee: Free Transfer

Many expected the legendary forward to head back to Barcelona this summer when his PSG deal expired.

However, with the Catalan club not in the best place financially right now, Messi had to look elsewhere. Despite interest from Saudi Arabia, the 35-year-old decided to take his talents to MLS, joining David Beckham’s Inter Miami.

Jude Bellingham

Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid

Fee: £86million

Real Madrid finally got their man.

Los Blancos beat Manchester City and Liverpool to the signature of Bellingham, agreeing to pay an initial £86million for the highly rated teen.

The 19-year-old almost guided BVB to the Bundesliga title last term and finished the season with a 7.68 FotMob rating having scored eight goals and assisted a further four. In fact Dortmund might’ve held off Bayern Munich had Bellingham been fit for the run in but a knee injury kept him out.

N’Golo Kante

Chelsea to Al Ittihad

Fee: Free Transfer

Chelsea tried to keep the 32-year-old at Stamford Bridge but contract talks hit a snag and the World Cup winner opted to leave the Blues after seven years.

Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad put together an eye watering package to bring him up to the Middle East. He isn’t the only mega star to make that move this summer.

Karim Benzema

Real Madrid to Al Ittihad

Fee: Free Transfer

According to reports, the Frenchman had agreed a one-year extension with Real Madrid before a big money offer arrived from Al Ittihad.

Having decided to leave the Spanish capital after 14 seasons with the club, he had a change of heart and it looked as though he would remain with Los Blancos. Another U-turn saw Benzema agree to move to Al Ittihad and he’s already netted a goal for his new club.

Blink and you really will miss something in the world of Benzema.

Kevin Schade

Freiburg to Brentford

Fee: £22million

Schade joined the Bees on loan in January and despite only appearing in 729 minutes, he did enough to convince the club to part with a club record fee to keep him on a permanent basis.

The 21-year-old German did amass an Expected Goals haul of over two in his limited minutes for the club and he did create eight chances. Going off those early figures, he could prove to be yet another shrewd Brentford signing in years to come.

Houssem Aouar

Lyon to Roma

Fee: Free transfer

Aouar’s career has plateaued a little.

Once touted as the next big thing in French football and chased by the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Barcelona, the 24-year-old moved to Roma on a free transfer this summer.

His final campaign with Lyon was underwhelming but they’d moved on from him, shaping the team around fresh faces, and it was time for him to go. A revival could be on the cards for the midfield maestro.

Youri Tielemans

Leicester City to Aston Villa

Fee: Free transfer

This one was a bit of a surprise. Not long ago, Tielemans was being linked with Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Real Madrid. Yet moves failed to materialise last summer and he extended his contract with Leicester.

The Foxes had a season to forget and were relegated but the Belgian midfielder did okay on an individual level, finishing with an average FotMob rating of 7.23. The 26-year-old brings a lot of experience to a Villa side on the rise under Unai Emery. Fast forward 12 months and this could be viewed as one of the smartest signings of the summer.

Konrad Laimer

RB Leipzig to Bayern Munich

Fee: Free transfer

This move has been on the cards for the best part of 12 months. Having rejected a new deal at the Red Bull Arena, Die Roten Bullen decided to let the midfielder run down his deal, reportedly rejecting bids for him in the summer and during the January window.

Bayern finalised it at the end of the campaign, though the manager who initially wanted him, Julian Nagelsmann, is no longer with the club. It will be interesting to see what sort of role he has next term competing for a place in the middle at the Bundesliga champions.

Jefferson Lerma

Bournemouth to Crystal Palace

Fee: Free Transfer

The 28-year-old played a key part in keeping Bournemouth up, appearing in 37 of their 38 matches. He also chipped in with five goals as the Cherries stunned the masses by remaining in the Premier League.

Crystal Palace capitalised on his contract situation to bring him to Selhurst Park on a free transfer. The Eagles have good squad depth in midfield and Lerma will give them even more options next season as they look to build on their last campaign.

(Images from IMAGO)

To keep track of all the latest deals, and even set alerts for transfers in your favourite leagues; head to the More tab in your app to find FotMob’s Transfer Centre. Download the free app here.

Jun

2023

FIVE games to follow this weekend: Nations League Finals and Euro Qualifying

In this weekend preview we summarise the best five games to follow on your match feed. And make a couple of suggestions for matches that you may otherwise miss.

By Bill Biss

🏆 UEFA Nations League Final: Croatia vs. Spain

The third edition of the UEFA Nations League comes to a head on Sunday evening, with Feyenoord’s de Kuip stadium the setting for a final that pits Croatia against Spain. The sides ranked seventh and tenth in the world by FIFA.

To get here, both nations had to endure a stiff test against another highly ranked side in the mid-week semi-finals. Despite being pegged back right at the end of normal time by a Noa Lang equaliser, Croatia successfully negotiated a clash with hosts Netherlands, on Wednesday.

Captain Luka Modrić pulled the strings, and converted a penalty in extra-time, as a now well established line-up eventually won the tie 4-2.

On Thursday night, Spain beat Italy by two goals to one, a late goal from substitute Joselu sparing everybody another period of extra-time. That was coach Luis de la Fuente’s third game in charge of the full national team and marked a successful return to winning ways following March’s surprise defeat at the hands of Scotland. It also means that Spain have made successive finals in this competition having eventually missed out to France back in the 2021 Final.

The last meeting between the Croatia and Spain was a memorable one, coming as it did, at Euro 2020, the tournament that was delayed until 2021. In the Round of 16, Spain won an epic encounter 5-3 after extra-time. Croatia had rallied with goals in the 85th and 92nd minute levelling the game at 3-3 only for Spain to run away with it during the added period. A result that has similarities to Croatia’s semi-final win over the Netherlands to set up this weekend’s clash.

🏆 CONCACAF Nations League Final: Canada vs. United States

If the semi-finals in the European iteration of the Nations League saw slightly tired performances from some of the players involved, at the end of a long season, Thursday night’s equivalent games in the CONCACAF region, played in Las Vegas, were quite different.

Canada roared to a 2-0 victory over Panama with goals from star turns, Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies, who needed just seven minutes following his second half introduction to make his mark, on his return from injury. That was followed by a heated battle between the USMNT, and arch-rivals Mexico, a game where both sides ended with nine players on the pitch. Two goals from a fired up Christian Pulisic were capped off by another from Ricardo Pepi to secure a 3-0 win.

All of which sets us up nicely for Sunday’s final between the North American neighbours. The last few meetings between the two have also been fairly lively with, most recently, Canada recording a 2-0 win over the States en route to finishing top of the World Cup qualifying group that both nations featured in last year. Historically though, the US have had the upper hand and they will be keen to defend the Nations League title they won in 2021.

And this will be a good marker for the more prestigious CONCACAF Gold Cup – which starts next weekend.

🇲🇹🆚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Malta vs. England

Nearly seven years after Gareth Southgate’s reign as England manager started with a 2-0 win over Malta at Wembley, the Three Lions are set to face the Mediterranean archipelago again, away in a Euro qualifier on Friday evening.

The goalscorers that day were Daniel Sturridge and Dele Alli but despite the fact that four of that side – Marcus Rashford, Jordan Henderson, Kyle Walker, and John Stones – remain in the squad today, it’s fair to say we’re now looking at a very different England team. And one that having beaten Italy (away) and Ukraine (home) to start this qualifying campaign, should now be fully on the march to another major tournament, the Euro 2024 Finals being held in Germany.

Malta come in to this game having won four of their last 10, including a morale boasting 1-0 victory at fellow minnows Luxembourg last Friday night. And as they showed against European champions Italy back in March (they only lost that game 2-0), they’ll aim will be to make it tough for Southgate’s men.

🇬🇮🆚🇫🇷 Gibraltar vs. France

Also on Friday, there’s another David vs. Goliath match-up in Euro qualifying. This one pits Gibraltar, ranked 201st in the world (and the second lowest-ranked UEFA nation), against France, number two in the world and World Cup finalists as recently as last December.

Didier Deschamps will take his team of superstars – Mbappe, Griezmann, Dembélé, Camavinga, Tchouameni, et al, for a first ever meeting with the small British overseas territory, who were only formally accepted in to UEFA competition a decade ago. In fact, for the sake of these qualifiers, Gibraltar are playing their home games at the Estádio Algarve in southern Portugal.

Gibraltar ended a long losing run with friendly victories over Liechtenstein and Andorra at the tail-end of 2022 but were brought back down to earth as this qualifying campaign started with back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Greece and Netherlands in March. Since losing to Argentina in what was perhaps the most dramatic World Cup Final in recent history, France have responded with a 4-0 thrashing of Netherlands and a much harder fought 1-0 win against Ireland.

🇳🇴🆚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Norway vs. Scotland

Moving to Saturday, we’ve selected another Euro qualifier, this time from Group A. But sadly, it’s not the home nation of your favourite live scores app who will be defending a 100% start to qualifying – instead, that will be Scotland, the visitors to Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion.

For those with short memories (how could you forget Scott McTominay’s back-to-back braces!?), the Tartan Army pulled off home wins over Cyprus, and Nations League finalists Spain, during the March international break. One of those wins was more expected than the other but both were rapturously received.

In contrast, Norway’s current golden generation started poorly; first losing in Spain before drawing 1-1 away in Georgia. That has sucked the confidence out of a supporter base long starved of qualification for a major tournament. And makes this fixture all the more important.

Plus two hidden gems from a little deeper in your match feed…

🇺🇸 MLS: Nashville vs. St. Louis City

This week’s pick from MLS was an easy one; a cross-conference clash between Nashville, who sit second in the East, and St. Louis City, the current leaders in the West.

We picked out St. Louis last week and the new franchise club dropped points for just the second time at home, in this, their inaugural season in the league. They drew 1-1 with ‘crisis’ club LA Galaxy, which was somewhat against the run of form. We also mentioned that in a league where big names, and prestige signings are all the rage, St. Louis maybe swim against that tide. Something that’s evidenced by the fact that the 33 goals that they’ve scored so far this year have been spread between 11 different players.

In contrast, nearly half of Nashville’s 25 goals have come from one man: Last season’s league MVP, Hany Mukhtar. The German-born striker bagged 23 goals and 7 assists during the 2022 season and after 17 games of the current campaign, he’s leading the league in goals and assist combined (10 goals, 6 assists).

Nashville are on a nine-game unbeaten run in the East and they keep a tight ship – the 12 goals they’ve conceded marks them out as the league’s meanest defence. They too drew 1-1 last weekend, a goal from Randall Leal earning them a point at Toronto.

🇪🇸 LaLiga2 Promotion Play-off: Levante vs. Alavés (0-0 agg.)

Just when you thought you’d seen the back of the 2022/23 football season, here we are, reminding you that there’s a place in one of Europe’s top leagues still up for grabs. And that is in Spain, where either Levante or Deportivo Alavés will seal a return to LaLiga on Saturday night.

Relegated after finishing 19th and 20th in the top flight at the end of last season, they ended this season virtually locked together again, third and fourth. Both were only just pipped to automatic promotion by Las Palmas from the Canary Islands.

And there was nothing to separate the two sides in the first leg of this tie either with that game finishing 0-0 last weekend. The away goals rules is in place for this final but should we still remain goalless all the way to the end of extra-time, promotion will go to the side who finished highest during the regular season (Levante).

If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.

Or join us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to discuss all the important football going on this weekend!

Cover Image from IMAGO