2019-2020 Premier League Predictions

Another Premier League season is on the horizon and though there is a bit of a divide between
the best and worst teams, within those factions there’s a lot of room to maneuver. Let’s dive in.

Note: Predicted XI may include some players that are currently injured. I am going for the
strongest possible 11.

20th Sheffield United

Last Season: 2nd in the EFL Championship

Manager: Chris Wilder

Predicted XI: Dean Henderson; Phil Jagielka, John Egan, Jack O’Connell;
George Baldock, Oliver Norwood, John Fleck, Enda Stevens; Kieron Freeman;
Billy Sharp, Callum Robinson

Ground: Bramall Lane

The Blades are making their first Premier League appearance in 12 years, but they should not
get comfortable. There’s some Premier League experience (though mainly through former Everton
defender Phil Jagielka), but much of this side is unproven in general or at the Premier League level.
We’ve seen some surprises happen like Huddersfield Town surviving the 2017-18 season,
but it would take something like that to keep Sheffield United from going down.

19th Brighton and Hove Albion

Last Season: 17th

Manager: Graham Potter

Predicted XI: Mathew Ryan; Martin Montoya, Shane Duffy, Lewis Dunk, Adam Webster,
Bernardo; Davy Propper, Pascal Groß; Leandro Trossard, Glenn Murray, Neal Maupay

Ground: Amex Stadium

Last season Brighton survived relegation by the skin of their teeth, and they’ve been in abysmal form.
Whenever a team backs into survival it usually doesn’t bode well for the next season.
Nor does sacking your manager, Chris Houghton, who got the best out of players no one expected
to do this well at the PL level. From Glenn Murray an unlikely reliable source of goals to the defensive
chemistry between Shane Duffy and Lewis Dunk, in some regards Brighton have punched above
their own weight and are set for a “Rope-a-Dope”.

18th Crystal Palace

Last Season: 12th

Manager: Roy Hodgson

Predicted XI: Vicente Guaita; Joel Ward, James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho,
Patrick van Aanholt; Luka Milivojevic, Victor Camarasa; Andros Townsend,
Max Meyer, Wilfred Zaha; Jordan Ayew

Ground: Selhurst Park

The first two relegated teams Sheffield United and Brighton are very much consensus picks as most
football fans agree they are on paper the weakest teams. The third relegation candidate could
honestly be anyone I put 13th-18th, but I am going with Crystal Palace. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and
Michy Batshuayi have left the club, Wilfried Zaha may as well and even if he stays there’s just so
much uncertainty and bad vibes surrounding Selhurst Park. Not to mention their atrocious striker
options in Jordan Ayew and Christian Benteke.

17th Burnley

Last Season: 15th

Manager: Sean Dyche

Predicted XI: Nick Pope; Matthew Lowton, James Tarkowski, Ben Mee, Charlie Taylor;
Johann Gudmundsson, Ashley Westood, Jack Cork, Dwight McNeil;
Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes

Ground: Turf Moor

Burnley’s odds of getting relegated are very close to Palace’s and some others that I have picked to
avoid relegation, but whereas Palace’s hopes all lie on one player, Burnley have a few solid options
they can (hopefully) rely on. Nick Pope is a solid goalkeeper and he will have his work cut out for him
again this season, and James Tarkowski and Dwight McNeil would not look out of place in teams
higher up the table and surprisingly stayed put as of the time of writing. It’s not going to be pretty
but I see Burnley sticking around for another season.

16th Southampton

Last Season: 16th

Manager: Ralph Hassenhuttl

Predicted XI: Angus Gunn; Yan Valery, Jannik Vestergaard, Jan Bednarek, Ryan Bertrand;
Nathan Redmond, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse, Sofiane Boufal;
Che Adams, Danny Ings

Ground: St. Mary’s Stadium

Southampton have gotten by earlier in their Premier League spell by adequately replacing the players
they’ve developed and sold (mostly to Liverpool). While the likes of Sadio Mane and Virgil Van Dijk
enjoy Champions League success, the current Southampton academy’s assembly line has slowed
down a bit and players they’ve relied on in past seasons have dipped in form, which is why Cedric
is no longer a starter. However, there is enough talent in this group that they should be able to stay up,
but it wouldn’t surprise me if this was their year to go down.

15th Aston Villa

Last Season: 5th in the EFL Championship, Promoted via playoffs

Manager:

Predicted XI: Tom Heaton; Frederic Guilbert, Tyrone Mings, Bjorn Engels, Matt Targett;
Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Jack Grealish; Jota, Wesley, Anwar El Ghazi

Ground: Villa Park

Aston Villa only finishing 5th in the Championship last season is a testament to how difficult it is to earn
promotion to the Premier League, as the top clubs in that division that fight for promotion are all
decent. They’ve added more new players to their squad than any other Premier League team.
On one hand, they’re mostly quality players that will improve their team. On the other hand, this does
give shades of Fulham last season who had a similarly busy window and most of their signings
flopped. Also Aston Villa’s last Premier League outing was awful. If these new players gel quickly
and play as well as they can, they should survive.

14th Newcastle United

Last Season: 13th

Manager: Steve Bruce

Predicted XI: Martin Dubravka; DeAndre Yedlin, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles,
Florian Lejuene, Matt Ritchie; Sean Longstaff, Isaac Hayden;
Allan Saint-Maximin, Joelinton, Miguel Almiron

Ground: St. James’ Park

The ownership of Newcastle has made some questionable decisions, most notably letting Rafa
Benitez go and replacing him with Steve Bruce. However, Newcastle’s notoriously stingy owners
surprised everyone by spending big on two talented players in Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton.
They along with former Atlanta United player Miguel Almiron form a good enough front three to paper
over some other issues and finish above some of the stragglers, though not without a relegation
scare or two.

13th Norwich City

Last Season: Winners of the EFL Championship

Manager: Daniel Farke

Predicted XI: Ralf Fahrmann; Max Aarons, Grant Hanley, Christoph Zimmermann, Jamal Lewis;
Ibrahim Amadou, Tom Trybull; Patrick Roberts, Marco Stiepermann, Emi Buendia; Teemo Pukki

Ground: Carrow Road

This German inspired Norwich team equipped with a quality Bundesliga keeper in Ralf Fahrmann
and two young exciting fullbacks in Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis have a Wolverhampton-esque
swagger about them going into this season. They won the EFL Championship playing some
beautiful football, which is rare to say about a lower division team. Questions will be asked about this
group’s ability to replicate than in the Premier League, but if there’s any newly promoted team that I
think is safe, it’s Norwich City.

12th Bournemouth

Last Season: 14th

Manager: Eddie Howe

Predicted XI: Mark Travers; Adam Smith, Steve Cook, Nathan Ake, Diego Rico;
David Brooks, Jefferson Lerma, Philip Billing, Ryan Fraser; Callum Wilson, Joshua King

Ground: Vitality Stadium

This will be Bournemouth’s 5th season in the Premier League since being promoted for the first time,
and with each season this team feels more and more comfortable. They don’t try to make a boat load
of signings and discard players that have helped improve the team already, rather mixing in some
exciting new players like Philip Billing and last season’s big signing David Brooks (though he’ll start
the season injured) with a strong core that works well together. Mark Travers might still have some
competition with Artur Boruc and Asmir Begovic as a starting goalkeeper, but that’s hardly a bad
problem to have.

11th Watford

Last Season: 11th

Manager: Javi Gracia

Predicted XI: Ben Foster; Kiko Femenia, Craig Cathcart, Craig Dawson, Jose Holebas;
Ismaila Sarr, Will Hughes, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Roberto Pereyra;
Gerard Deulofeu, Troy Deeney

Ground: Vicarage Road

Like Bournemouth, Watford aren’t a side that should strike fear into most of the sides I predict will
finish in the top half of the table. But they are well managed and balanced enough to be perfectly
average. It’s not the most exciting season, but this is a solid team with a blend of skills and
backgrounds that will put up a good fight, particularly at home. Featuring some star players
formerly in the background at bigger clubs like Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra as well as a
rock solid midfielder in Abdoulaye Doucoure, as long as they play well, so will Watford.

10th West Ham United

Last Season: 10th

Manager: Manuel Pellegrini

Predicted XI: Łukasz Fabiański; Ryan Fredericks, Fabian Balbuena, Issa Diop, Arthur Masuaku;
Pablo Fornals, Declan Rice; Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Felipe Anderson;
Sebastien Haller

Ground: London Stadium

Everton, Leicester City, West Ham United, and Wolverhampton Wanderers form the “B tier” of the
Premier League where they aren’t likely to challenge the top 6, but they are better than the bottom
half of the league. The weakest link in this group chasing a possible Europa League berth this year
appears to be West Ham, but they are still an improved team. Łukasz Fabianski is an underrated
goalkeeper who had an impressive season last year, Declan Rice broke into the team and made an
impact among the controversy of switching his FIFA nationality from Irish to English, and new signings
Pablo Fornals and Sebastian Haller make West Ham a threat on the attack. There’s still some room
for improvement to leapfrog the next few teams above them.

9th Wolverhampton Wanderers

Last Season: 7th

Manager: Nuno Espirito Santo

Predicted XI: Rui Patricio; Matt Doherty, Jesus Vallejo, Conor Coady, Willy Boly, Jonny;
Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Leander Dendoncker; Raul Jimenez, Diogo Jota

Ground: Molineux Stadium

Wolverhampton Wanderers, or Wolves, had one of, if not the, best season a newly promoted EPL
team could have finishing 7th last season. They did that with some shrewd signings such as
Rui Patricio, Joao Moutinho, and Raul Jimenez, adding to a core that featured talented midfielder
Ruben Neves and hardworking staple Matt Doherty. They have built on that with additions such as
Patrick Cutrone and Jesus Vallejo coming in from big clubs Milan and Real Madrid respectively, but
now this talented group faces a big test in the Europa League. Wolves have the ability to do well in
both the Premier League and the Europa League, but their depth will be stretched at times and they’ll
finish a bit lower this season because of it.

8th Leicester City

Last Season: 9th

Manager: Brendan Rodgers

Predicted XI: Kasper Schmeichel; Ricardo Pereira, Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans, Ben Chilwell;
Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, James Maddison; Ayoze Perez, Jamie Vardy, Harvey Barnes

Ground: King Power Stadium

Leicester City have not let their incredible achievement of winning the Premier League title 3 years ago
be for naught. They may have sold key plays such as N’Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez, and Harry
Maguire in the years since, but they have made good decisions in the transfer market to fill those
voids. The standout area is their midfield three of Youri Tielemans, Wilfred Ndidi, and James
Maddison. They will still play a primarily counter attacking football with speedy Jamie Vardy leading
the line, but they are capable of playing in other ways too under Brendan Rodgers.
8th place seems about right as things look up for the Foxes.

7th Everton

Last Season: 8th

Manager: Marco Silva

Predicted XI: Jordan Pickford; Djibril Sidibe, Michael Keane, Yerry Mina, Lucas Digne;
Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Andre Gomes; Bernard, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Moise Kean

Ground: Goodison Park

Everton appear to be the perennial top 6 chasers in the last few seasons of the Premier League, and
they were a bit blindsided by Wolves overtaking them last season. However, the last few windows
have seen the Blue half of Merseyside move past the likes of Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines
with a new and improved squad. Each of these starting players have experience either at the
international level, at big clubs, or both. Is it quite enough to break into the Top Six? Perhaps not yet.
But they may be breathing down their necks waiting to capitalize on any slip ups.

6th Chelsea

Last Season: 3rd

Manager: Frank Lampard

Predicted XI: Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, Antonio Rudiger,
Emerson; Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek;
Christian Pulisic, Tammy Abraham, Pedro

Ground: Stamford Bridge

This will be an interesting season for Chelsea to say the least. Their star player Eden Hazard left for
Real Madrid this year, Frank Lampard takes Mauricio Sarri’s place as manager coming off of his first
year ever managing a club at Derby County, and they were hit with a transfer ban. This could still be
a good thing as it will force Chelsea to unearth a few more gems perhaps in their legion of players
they’ve sent on loan the last few seasons. Among them, I expect Tammy Abraham to have the biggest
spike in involvement considering things haven’t worked out with Gonzalo Higuaín or Alvaro Morata.
Callum Hudson-Odoi will be one to watch when he returns from injury as well American star player
Christian Pulisic who they managed to snap up from Borussia Dortmund before the ban hit. There will
be some growing pains though and 6th place seems fair.

5th Manchester United

Last Season: 6th

Manager: Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Predicted XI: David de Gea; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw;
Scott McTominay, Fred, Paul Pogba; Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial

Ground: Old Trafford

This has not been the Transfer Window Manchester United fans wanted in order to mount a serious
challenge for the Top Four, let alone the title. The latter was a snowball’s chance in hell of happening
anyway, but they only really addressed their defense. Even then, there’s still players like Ashley Young,
Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones, and Chris Smalling who even as squad players have overstayed their
welcome, and this squad composition puts pressure on youth stars Daniel James and Mason
Greenwood to make an impact. 5th place even with Chelsea’s transfer ban and having a better
squad than the “B tier” might not be assured, but that’s what I will go with. It will require a lot of
good performances and leadership especially from David de Gea and Paul Pogba.

4th Arsenal

Last Season: 5th

Manager: Unai Emery

Predicted XI: Bernd Leno; Hector Bellerin, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Rob Holding,
Kieran Tierney; Lucas Torreira, Dani Ceballos, Matteo Guendouzi;
Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Ground: Emirates Stadium

The margins of success and failure can be razor thin in sports, and had Arsenal managed to win the
Europa League last season, Unai Emery would not be sweating as much as he probably is right now.
Chelsea deservedly beat them in the final though, and now Arsenal have to regroup and figure out
how they can win their first league title since 2005. Even with the additions of Kieran Tierney,
Dani Ceballos, and Nicolas Pepe who do drastically improve the squad, that might be too tough a
task. However, perhaps they will be able to distance themselves from the struggling Chelsea and
Manchester United this season.

3rd Tottenham Hotspur

Last Season: 3rd

Manager: Mauricio Pochettino

Predicted XI: Hugo Lloris; Serge Aurier, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose;
Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko; Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Heung-min Son; Harry Kane

Ground: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Despite making no moves last year, Tottenham had a good season though they were unable to
shake off their trophiless stigma for a club of their size. Their big move this window was midfielder
Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon, and they look set to be in the top four again this season.
However, it’s hard to imagine them achieving anything more. If they want to keep their star players
such as Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane as well as their manager Mauricio Pochettino, it will take
more than their new stadium to keep them happy. Even in the form of a domestic cup such as the
FA Cup, Spurs need something to show for all the strides they’ve made in recent years.

2nd Liverpool

Last Season: 2nd

Manager: Jurgen Klopp

Predicted XI: Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson;
Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Naby Keita;
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane

Ground: Anfield

Though the top six all have talented squads, this season’s title race is between Liverpool and
Manchester City as it was last year. Liverpool had the title in their hands but they bottled it.
Even though they accumulated the third most points in a Premier League season, they could
not prevent the freight train that Manchester City currently is from peaking at the right time.
However, Liverpool did succeed in winning the Champions League. Jurgen Klopp has put his faith
on the same group of players to challenge for titles in all fronts again this upcoming season.
While the players appreciate the sentiment, it’s hard to feel confident in Liverpool’s chances
when their main competition for the PL title brought in more reinforcements.
It might be another second place finish for the Reds.

1st Manchester City

Last Season: 1st

Manager: Pep Guardiola

Predicted XI: Ederson; Joao Cancelo, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Oleksandr Zinchenko;
Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne; Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Raheem Sterling; Sergio Aguero

Ground: Etihad Stadium

Manchester City’s goal this season is nothing less than a threepeat of Premier League titles,
along with winning any other competition they step foot it. Aside from a Quarterfinal
Champions League exit last season, City won everything else. Pep Guardiola is one of,
if not, the best manager in the world right now, and they have one of the most talented teams
in the world as well. Particularly in midfield and attack, they have options such as
Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden, Rodri, Riyad Mahrez, Gabriel Jesus, and Leroy Sané
(though he is linked with a move to Bayern Munich) that can’t all even fit on the bench.
Though it was a close race last year against Liverpool, they were without Kevin De Bruyne for
much of it due to injury. It’s their Premier League title to lose.

FIFA WWC 2015 Canada Update 2

Let's take a look at how Groups C and D ended up after 6 matches each

Aside from defending World Champions Japan, everyone in this group is competing in their first World Cup. Japan is ranked #4, Switzerland 19, Ecuador 48, and Cameroon 53.

Ecuador's 1-0 loss to Japan in the two sides' final group match while be satisfying for both teams as Japan won the group and Ecuador didn't get crushed like they did against Switzerland and Cameroon. Like Germany, Japan paid a bit of a price for being very wasteful with the chances they had and they can't afford to be doing that in the next match when it becomes win or go home.

Cameroon pulled off an upset by beating the Swiss 2-1. It was a come from behind victory and one that means a lot for this nation as they continue to have a solid first Women's World Cup. Finishing in 2nd place will provide them an easier opponent than finishing in 3rd, but as they are well aware, anything can happen. Switzerland have a healthy goal difference thanks to their lone 10-1 win over Ecuador so with 3 points they are currently ahead of Thailand but still have some waiting to do before they find out their fate. They did, however, confirm that the Netherlands will be moving on to the Round of 16.

Japan could face Netherlands in the Round of 16 but also the runner up from Groups B and F. Cameroon's Round of 16 opponent is confirmed to be China which should be an interesting one, allowing one of two underdogs to at least finish in the top 8 of this tournament. Switzerland's potential opponents as of now could be Canada or Germany, which would be difficult for them either way.

1st Japan 9 pts 3-0-0; 4 for, 1 against; +3
2nd Cameroon 6 pts 2-0-1; 9 for, 3 against; +6
3rd Switzerland 3 pts 1-0-2; 11 for, 4 against; +7
4th Ecuador 0 pts 0 0-0-3; 1 for, 17 against; -16

Group D has been called this tournament's group of death, and it's clear to me why that's the case. With #2 USA, 5 Sweden, and 10 Australia thrown in with defending African champions Nigeria, every game would be a tough game in this group.

Nonetheless the USA were considered favorites despite not playing like favorites. It's a results business, and finishing the group with a 1-0 win over Nigeria and having a total of 7 points and ending as group winners will be satisfying to some extent. But USA are looking to redeem their loss at the final against Japan 4 years ago, and the only way to do that is to reach the final and win it this time. Can they do it? Possibly, but not if they continue to play like this.

Despite a valiant effort, only a 3-3 opening draw with Sweden provides points for Nigeria who finish in last.

Sweden rescue their World Cup campaign, if only barely, with a 1-1 draw against Australia to close the group. The Matildas will take that result as well as they clinch 2nd place.

1st USA 7 pts 2-1-0; 4 for, 1 against; +3
2nd Australia 4 pts 1-1-1; 4 for, 4 against; +0
3rd Sweden 3 pts 0-3-0; 4 for, 4 against; +0
4th Nigeria 1 pt 0-1-2; 3 for, 6 against; -3

USA don't know who they are facing yet but it will be a 3rd place team. As runner up of the group, Australia will face the Group E winner which appears to be Brazil. Sweden will have a tough opponent such as Germany or Canada waiting for them but we're not exactly sure who it will be.

The Group C and D results confirm that the Netherlands and Switzerland are moving on to the next stage, with Thailand and Sweden left waiting for the last two Groups and hoping for some favorable results. If I'm being honest, both of them are walking on thin ice, especially Thailand.

FIFA Womens World Cup 2015 Canada Update 1

June 15 through 17 will see all 6 groups complete group play. Today it's the finale for Groups A and B, I'll recap today's results and see what they mean for the Final Group Tables and possible knockout round matchups.

Group A contains hosts Canada, WWC 1999 runners up China, the only Oceania nation that had any respect in FIFA before Tahiti appeared in the Confederations Cup New Zealand, and debutantes Netherlands. With Canada 8, Netherlands 12, China 16, and New Zealand 17 in the womens rankings this seemed like a close group and that's what we got. 3 draws and 3 wins and all the wins coming in 1-0 scorelines. Despite a late goal from Kirsten van de Ven to give the Dutch a late 1-1 draw against hosts Canada, Canada and Netherlands finished the group with 5 and 4 points respectively. New Zealand had the lead, then China scored twice to make it 2-1 and New Zealand finished it 2-2 but unfortunately it wouldn't be enough for New Zealand with only 2 points

Finish Nation W-D-L GF GA GD

1st Canada 5 pts 1-2-0; 2 for, 1 against; +1
2nd China 4 pts 1-1-1; 3 for, 3 against; 0
3rd Netherlands 4 pts 1-1-1; 2 for, 2 against; 0
4th New Zealand 2 pts 0-2-1; 2 for, 3 against; -1

New Zealand never seem to be one of the stronger teams in the tournament, but they were far from a useless team. The points they earned were deserved, just not enough.

Netherlands will have to wait a day or two to see if they advance and what their opponent will be. It's very rare in this 24 team tournament format a team with 4 points gets snubbed and doesn't advance at least as one of the best 3rd place team. We know for sure one team (we'll get to them) is stuck on 3 points and 3rd place and from the looks of the other teams I'm confident another 3rd place team will be restricted to 3 points or less so Netherlands are in a good spot to advance. Unfortunately 3rd place teams must play against group winners and in this situation it could mean Germany or possibly Japan but hey not bad for a first World Cup.

China isn't at the height of their powers but they did well after missing out on the previous World Cup and dealing with a tricky group, especially after a brutal opening game losing on a last minute penalty against the hosts. If it raised questions about this team, they found the answers to collect 4 points in the remaining 2 games. As runners up of Group A they face the runners up of Group C in the Round of 16, and either Switzerland or Cameroon (can't rule out Japan, but they're playing Ecuador in their final game; they will not lose) have the ability to make it a challenging game but China will make it hard for their opponent as well, especially since China has more WC experience than the Swiss or Cameroon.

Canada is set to face a 3rd place team from Groups C, D, or E, which could mean Cameroon, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, or others. It's been a mixed back for the hosts so far. There's no doubt in their quality as much as it is concerns about consistency. Will they be able to play at the level of a World Cup winner contender for four games in a row? I doubt it at this point but if it all clicks Canada could go very far.

Group B: Germany, Norway, Thailand, and Cote D'Ivoire. Germany and Norway have 3 Women's World Cups between them (2 for Germany, 1 for Norway) and are pretty much royalty at this stage. Thailand and Cote D'Ivoire newcomers as well as outsiders. Since the rankings have existed Germany and USA have almost exclusively swapped the 1 and 2 positions. They come into this tournament as the #1 team due to an impressive string of results as well as some stumbles by the USWNT. Norway placing just outside the top 10 at #11, Thailand at 29 and Les Elephantes at 67 clocking in as the lowest ranked team in this tournament, 14 spots behind Costa Rica the 2nd lowest.

It looked like it would be a textbook 9-6-3-0 group with Thailand or Cote D'Ivoire left gasping at straws to finish in 3rd and hope to advance from there, but Norway pulled off a 1-1 shock draw against Germany. Thailand took hold of a valuable 3 points in a 3-2 win over the African nation. In the final set of games, Thailand lost 4-0 to the two time (six if you include men AND women) champions while the Norwegians beat Cote D'Ivoire 3-1. Germany's opening 10-1 victory over Cote D'Ivoire (though I'm sure it didn't feel as bad as the Brazilian men felt after the 7-1 loss to Germany last summer) gave it the goal difference boost it needed to top the group.

1st Germany 7 pts 2-1-0; 15 for, 1 against; +14
2nd Norway 7 pts 2-1-0; 8 for, 2 against; +6
3rd Thailand 3 pts 1-0-2; 3 for, 10 against; -7
4th Cote D'Ivoire 0 pts 0-0-3; 3 for, 16 against; -13

Sure the group draw was kinda brutal to Cote D'Ivoire but it could've been worse. I doubt they would've wanted to switch groups with Nigeria, but possibly it would've fared between switching with Cameroon. This first World Cup for them must be the equivalent of ripping a band-aid off: painful, but quick.

Thailand could have done worse but at least they didn't finish last. That being said, it is quite possible they do not advance from the group phase. The margins are thin; every point and goal differential counts, and with only 3 points and a -7 goal difference that's not a healthy resume, especially with 3rd place candidates like Cameroon, Australia, Sweden, France, England, and Colombia waiting.

Norway may be known for white snow but their role in this tournament is as a dark horse. Good news is they face a group runner up next round. Bad news is, that team will be coming from Group F. England and France are not to be taken lightly and Colombia is a surprise package, so Norway will have to hope that the 1-1 draw against Germany is assurance enough that they can carve out a few more good results in this tournament. And in the knockout stage, the only good result is victory.

Not only are the Netherlands anxious about whether or not they will advance, they are likely very nervously hoping they do not face Germany. Germany faces the 3rd place team from either Group A, C, or D. The toughest opponent Germany would face would come out of Group D. Imagine a Germany vs Sweden matchup right out of the gate in the knockout stages. That would be fun. Needless to say though the Germans are favorites against almost any team in the tournament. They are number one after all. But they are not invincible.

That's it for now. Tomorrow I'll cover the conclusions of Groups C and D and we'll have more of the knockout round picture complete.

NBA Playoffs Preview and Predictions

After a very interesting 2014-15 NBA season where the seedings and the composition of the playoff teams don't quite matched what we expected in September or October of last year, it's time for another playoff run. The magic number is 16. 16 teams with a chance of lifting the Larry O'Brien trophy and 16 wins needed to do so. Now let's take a look at the teams

Western Conference

1 Golden State Warriors (Pacific champions; 3rd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 8 New Orleans Pelicans (returns to playoffs after 3 year drought)

Key Players: GSW Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut; NOP Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, Omer Asik

4 Portland Trailblazers (Northwest champions; 2nd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 5 Memphis Grizzlies (5th consecutive playoff appearance)

Key Players: POR Lamarcus Aldrige, Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum; MEM Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph

3 Los Angeles Clippers (4th consecutive playoff appearance) vs 6 San Antonio Spurs (18th consecutive playoff appearance)

Key Players: LAC Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Deandre Jordan, JJ Redick; SAS Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili

2 Houston Rockets (Southwest champions; 3rd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 7 Dallas Mavericks (2nd consecutive playoff appearance)

Key Players: HOU James Harden, Dwight Howard, Trevor Ariza, Donatas Motiejunas; DAL Dirk Nowitski, Rajon Rondo, Tyson Chandler, Monta Ellis, Tony Allen

This western conference looks stacked. All 8 teams have at least 1 championship caliber player and it will be a fight to the very end of each game. I'm not saying we're looking at 7 7-game series from the West but not even Warriors vs Pelicans looks like a sweep, especially considering the Pelicans managed to beat the Warriors and the Spurs in the dying days of the regular season to find their way in the playoffs at the expense of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Warriors, Rockets, and Trailblazers appear to be the favorites to make the finals but the Spurs, Clippers, and Grizzlies look tough and even the Mavericks and Pelicans can cause some problems for the heavyweights.

Eastern Conference

1 Atlanta Hawks (Southeast champions; 8th consecutive playoff appearance) vs 8 Brooklyn Nets (3rd consecutive playoff appearance)

Key Players: ATL Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver; BKN Brook Lopez, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Thaddeus Young

4 Toronto Raptors (Atlantic champions; 2nd consecutive playoff appearance) vs 5 Washington Wizards (2nd consecutive playoff appearance)

Key Players: TOR DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, Terrence Ross; WAS John Wall, Paul Pierce, Marcin Gortat, Bradley Beal

3 Chicago Bulls (7th consecutive playoff appearance) vs 6 Milwaukee Bucks (returns to playoffs after 1 year drought)

Key Players: CHI Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noam, Pau Gasol, Derricke Rose; MIL Brandon Knight, Michael Carter-Williams, Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo

2 Cleveland Cavaliers (Central champions; returns to playoffs after 4 year drought) vs 7 Boston Celtics (returns to playoffs after 1 year drought)

Key Players: CLE Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, JR Smith; CEL Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger

I'm not so optimistic this side of the playoffs. A few really good teams like Cavs, Hawks, and Bulls, but some teams whose best players are a few years away from their best days. A lot of the players I listed look like future all stars but for now, I see some sweeps and not many close series. Even though Cavs, Bulls, and Hawks are all strong teams, if they are the East's hopes of winning the championship, I like my odds with the powerhouses of the West.

Predictions

First Round

Warriors win 4-2 over Pelicans: A lot of pressure on my favorite team to go far and the Pelicans are looking dangerous, but I think the Warriors will be fine.

Blazers fall 4-2 to Grizzlies: Close one but Grizzlies seem like just the better team

Clippers fall 4-2 to Spurs: Spurs are playoff experts and the Clippers are hot and cold. Spurs are rarely cold in April and I can't see them gone so soon.

Rockets win 4-3 over Mavericks: Closer than seedings suggest but I see the Rockets finding their way narrowly over an interesting and threatening team.

Hawks sweep Nets: Brooklyn are lucky to be here and have been underachievers matched up against an overachieving team.

Raptors fall 4-3 to Wizards: Expect the Toronto curse to continue. In a world where their baseball, hockey, and soccer teams fall below their expectations, basketball fail to offer much better.

Bulls win 4-1 over Bucks: Bulls have too much star power over an inexperienced Bucks side.

Cavs wins 4-1 over Celtics: Similar to Bulls and Bucks. Crystal clear for me but maybe some warning signs for Cavs.

Conference Semifinals

Warriors win 4-3 over Grizzlies: Grizzlies will push Warriors far but not far enough.

Spurs wins 4-3 over Rockets: Spurs playoff magic continues and Rockets will be left wondering how can they go further next season.

Hawks win 4-2 over Wizards: Could be an interesting matchup but how much will Wizards have left? Can't see them progressing.

Cavs wins 4-2 over Bulls: Good series hopefully but Cavs remain relatively unchallenged.

Conference finals

Warriors win 4-3 over Spurs: I may get some crap for this but Warriors have what it takes. Will not be easy at all.

Cavs wins 4-3 over Hawks: Cavs click and deny a surprise package from an even more incredible season.

Finals

Warriors win 4-2 over Cavs: West over East. Simple as that. And Warriors would make worthy winners.

We'll see how my predictions shape up. Let me know your thoughts.

Spring Break Ends but Sports Are Just Beginning

I write this blog entry a day before I begin Spring Quarter at UC Davis (updated: I finished it late due to recovering from being sick, I'm better now!), and I think to myself this is the beginning of an exciting time if you're a sports fan. For me basketball and soccer have always been my favorite sports so I'm especially excited about those, but you can't ignore what the beginning of baseball season and the culmination of hockey season means as well. I'm going to take a look at the biggest storylines you should look out for in the next four months.

The Fantastic Final Four

Where else to start than March Madness? It's lived up to its name despite 3 #1 seeds making it this far (Villanova being the one to miss out, another reason for Roxanne Chalifoux to simultaneously cry and play the piccolo). Kentucky is 38-0 this season and has already made history with that record but it won't mean much if it ends up being 38-1 or 39-1 as opposed to 40-0. Wisconsin's team lead by the dynamic duo of Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky did well to validate their #1 seed, and it's always hard to discount Duke with US National team coach Mike Krzyzewski (if I spelled his name wrong, please don't hate me). Speaking of coaches, the Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is probably one of the big reasons why the title of Cinderella seems weird for Michigan State. Yes they are a #7 seed but the man's wealth of experience cannot be ignored. 18 NCAA Tournaments, only 5 times he's failed to make the sweet 16 as a coach. And as anyone who's been watching March Madness this year or any year knows it is a tough tournament for any team, even the 1 seeds. Kentucky and Duke may appear as favorites to meet in the final in Indianapolis on April 4, but all four of these teams have legitimate reasons for why they can end up in the winner's circle.

Skating on Thin Ice

Out of the four major sports league in the USA (Five if I include MLS, and every year its ability to make it a Big Five as opposed to a Big Four increases), NHL is the one I follow the least. It's still a great sport, I guess I've just been a better Air Hockey player than Ice Hockey. For my local team the San Jose Sharks after a frustration early end to their post season in 2014, it might end even more frustrating and early this time because they're in a tough spot in the race for playoff positions. Here's how things stand so far, and the way this works is the NHL is split up into East and West and then East is split up into Atlantic and Metro while West is split into Central and Pacific. Top 3 teams each from Atlantic, Metro, Central, and Pacific automatically qualify along with the next 2 best teams each from East and West (regardless of Atlantic/Metro/Central/Pacific classification).

East:
Atlantic 1.Montreal (clinched) 2.Tampa Bay 3.Detroit
Metro 1.NY Rangers (clinched) 2.Pittsburgh 3.NY Islanders
Wild Card: 1.Washington 2.Boston
Outside looking in (points behind Boston Bruins) 3.Ottawa (3) 4.Florida(4) 5.Philadelphia(12) 6.Columbus(13) 7.New Jersey(15) 8.Carolina(22) 9.Toronto(27) 10.Buffalo(41)

West:
Central 1.Nashville (clinched) 2.St.Louis 3.Chicago
Pacific 1.Anaheim (clinched) 2.Vancouver 3.Calgary
Wild Card: 1.Minnesota 2.Winnipeg
Outside looking in (points behind Winnipeg Jets) 3.Los Angeles (2) 4.Dallas(6) 5.San Jose(7) 6.Colorado(8) 7.Edmonton(33) 8.Arizona(36)

For the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Nashville Predators, and Anaheim Ducks, they're all breathing easy because they are going to the playoffs. They could slip up and be seeded lower, but in NHL seedings mean less here than in any other playoff format except maybe the MLS. NHL is known for its upsets in the postseason, so the cliche of "you just have to be in it to win it" is as true as it can be. Even Giants can fall through the ice and out of the playoffs easily. Even though the race for playoffs remains tighter in the West than the East (might help that they only have 14 teams as opposed to the East with 16), both conferences should have some good matchups from the get go as the fight for the Stanley Cup begins soon. One things for sure: it'll mean a lot for Red Wings fans if Detroit make it to the playoffs this season as it will extend their playoff appearance streak to 24 seasons, tying for 4th with Montreal Canadiens 1970-71 to 1993-94.

Davids running the Goliaths out of the NBA

No one would've expected the Golden State Warriors and the Atlanta Hawks to be leading the West and East Conferences respectively at this point of the season, let alone with this much breathing room at the top. Warriors are ahead of 2nd place Rockets (and 3rd place Grizzlies who have the same amount of wins as the Rockets but one more loss) by 10 games and the Hawks are ahead of 2nd place Cavaliers by 7 games. As a Warriors fan I am very happy with the way things have been going so far but it's all about the playoffs, and just as easily as the Warriors as an 8 seed upset the Dallas Mavericks in the 2007 Playoffs, the same can happen to them. This is especially true in the NBA this season, where in both conferences you can identify 2 or 3 top class players, which is especially true for the loaded Western Conference, where the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans, despite their winning records which would not only put them in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference but knock the Milwaukee Buck down from a 6 to an 8 seed, are on the outside looking in with the Kings, Lakers, Jazz, Timberwolves, and Nuggets out of luck for this season. As for the East, there's still a chance for 12 of the 15 teams (sorry Magic, 76ers, and Knicks....ok not sorry, especially to the latter two who were all kinds of awful) with the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets, Indiana Pacers, and Boston Celtics circling around the Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat like vultures waiting to strike and take one of those playoff spots. Seeing teams like the Pistons, Knicks, Lakers, and Celtics who have had a lot of success a decade or two ago and even further back while teams like the Warriors, Hawks, Cavaliers, Raptors, Wizards, Grizzlies, and Trailblazers are in the spotlight is definitely a breath of fresh air for the knowledgeable basketball fan and to loyal fans whose patience has payed off to some extent as now their teams are doing quite well.

Even though the Warriors seem unstoppable, especially after some big road wins against Western Conference Rivals Portland Trailblazers and Memphis Grizzlies, it'll be a tough road to the NBA Playoffs. A road that could be traveled by the likes of (takes a deep breath) Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldrige, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Dwight Howard, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Dirk Nowitski, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, and of course the star studded playoff wizards known as San Antonio Spurs, where long time trio Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker are as dangerous as ever. A lot of tough tasks ahead for Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Bogut, Klay Thompson, and the rest of the Warriors if they are to end up on top in what has been one of the best seasons in Warriors history.

UEFA Champions League: Favorites, Underdogs, and no British Clubs?

It would've been a massive shocker had Real Madrid not reached the quarterfinals, but they limped past an impressive Schalke 04 and now have a big task to defeat rivals Atletico Madrid, who have had Real Madrid's number every time they met this season. It feels like we're at the height of the second galacticos era for Real Madrid, a team that once had Brazilian Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Raul, and Jonathan Woodgate (I'm joking about the last guy. If you know the history of Real Madrid you'll understand) has shifted to stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, James Rodriguez, and Karim Benzema. However over the last season and this season, Atletico Madrid's often underrated collection of players are making their names known proudly. Being a less wealthy club than Real Madrid, they have a tougher time of keeping their talented players such as Diego Costa, Filipe Luis, and Thibaut Courtois (who now all play for Chelsea), but the ones they keep they develop well and it's not like Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic are bad replacements for Diego Costa. Even Fernando Torres who's constantly been struggling has improved since coming to Atletico for Real Madrid. Atletico's underdog status may not last much longer if they continue to show the bigger clubs they're in their same weight class.

Juventus and Monaco have a point to prove as one of them will be in the semifinals in this year's champions league. Not only will they want to beat the other comfortably to boost their position among Europe's elite clubs but once this quarterfinal tie is over they'll probably face a stronger opponent and will have to prove that they do belong this far in the competition. Juventus are the favorites because on paper with players like Arturo Vidal, Alvaro Morata, Carlos Tevez, and Paul Pogba (although a few of them have had injuries) compared to Monaco's power players like Dimitar Berbatov, Joao Moutinho, and Geoffrey Kondogbia, Juventus are the stronger team and Juventus are back to back to back Serie A champions while Monaco have been near the summit of the Ligue 1 table but they're only in their 2nd Ligue 1 season since being promoted. However if any other teams underestimates them or if they underestimate each other, it could be bad.

Bayern Munich have a tricky test against Porto, with many young talented players. For a club like Porto it's tricky. To be fair they have a small chance of winning the Champions League but they have a chance and they'll want to go as far as they can, but the farther they go the more interested bigger teams will want to buy their players. The big teams in the Portuguese League (Porto, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon) are big fishes in a small pond and I'm not entirely convinced Jackson Martinez or Yacine Brahimi envision spending their entire career at Porto. Bayern Munich shredded Shakhtar Donetsk in the previous round but despite being of one (and arguably the) strongest teams in the world, they can quickly go from large win to narrow win and the odd defeat. Bayern will have to be at their best to go as far as their fans expect them to go, and Porto will hope to pull a Wolfsburg and stun the German giants.

Barcelona and PSG is a rematch from the group stage where each team won at home. PSG got one revenge job complete by avenging their elimination at the hands of Chelsea in the 2013-24 campaign with a win this time. Whenever Barcelona beats their rivals Real Madrid, it's always a good boost to the rest of the season. Both teams have strong players all around the pitch and while the average fan might think Barcelona has it in the bag, that's not entirely true.

Also, what happened to the BPL? I won't bother asking Celtic, they just haven't been the same since the Rangers were relegated and as a whole the Scottish League has declined. But Liverpool exited in the Group Stage, and Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchested City lost to PSG, Monaco, and Barcelona respectively in the first round of the knockout round. This has posed a lot of questions about the state of the Barclays Premier League. All I can say is that the BPL will have to do a lot worse to not be one of the best leagues in the world but it does seem like the big clubs are overrated to some extent and maybe they care more about Domestic Glory than European Glory (I don't know why, but it's possible.) We know they're big spenders but we'll see if this summer they can be wise spenders to help get back to where they'd prefer to be: still in European competition in April.

Don't Ignore Europa

In a way the Europa League to the UCL is like what the National Invitation Tournament is to March Madness: A second chance tournament. To be fair though, with so many interesting teams in Europe it's a good thing this tournament exists to give them something to do but it's an good tournament and you bet the teams in it are gonna fight like hell to win it. Like in the UCL, the Europa League is at the Quarterfinal stage

Sevilla (Spain) vs Zenit St.Petersburg (Russia)
Club Brugge (Belgium) vs Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk (Ukraine)
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) vs Fiorentina (Italy)
Wolfsburg (Germany) vs Napoli (Italy)

Club Brugge and the duo of Ukranian clubs have been suprise packages, having sent (relatively) big names home like Everton, Ajax, Besiktas, and Olympiacos. Wolfsburg, Napoli, and Fiorentina have hit another level in this competition and with their very talented teams they look like teams you'd think deserve to compete in the Champions League next season. Sevilla and Zenit have been solid as well. Winning the Europa League may not seem like as big of a deal as the UCL, but it should be an exciting finish to this Europa League campaign.

USA and the Beautiful Game

Did you know Harvard University will be teaching a course on soccer: "Why Soccer is Called the Beautiful Game?" That's only the beginning of the fun for the USA. Major League Soccer kicked off its 2015 season with the addition of two new clubs: Orlando City SC (featuring the likes of Kaka and Brek Shea) and New York City FC (featuring David Villa and Mix Diskerud). Things were tense and controversial with elongated player union strikes and the expansion of the playoffs, but if the season ends how this season has begun, it should be really good. A few more USMNT players like Jozy Altidore and Sacha Kljestan have returned from season in Europa, and many notable European players have joined the league including Laurent Ciman(Belgium), Shaun Maloney(Scotland), and most interestingly Sebastian Giovinco(Italy), who signed for Toronto FC. A 28-year old who was (and still is, hopefully) in the Italian national team picture decided to play in the MLS. That shows how far the league has come.

Anyway here are the current standings

West: 1.New York Red Bulls(7 pts) 2.DC United(6) 3.NYCFC(5) 4.Orlando City(5) 5.NE Revolution(4) 6.Columbus Crew(3) 7.Toronto FC(3) 8.Chicago Fire(3) 9.Montreal Impact(2) 10.Philadelphia Union(2)

East: 1.FC Dallas(10) 2.Vancouver Whitecaps(9) 3.SJ Earthquakes(6) 4.LA Galaxy(5) 5.Real Salt Lake(5) 6.Houston Dynamo(5) 7.Sporting KC(5) 8.Seattle Sounders(4) 9.Colorado Rapids(3) 10.Portland Timbers(3)

It's still early in the season so there can't be too much of a gap between first and last from each conference. However, I do find it interesting how both expansion teams are doing well so far and some teams are going way above or way below their expectations (even this early in the season it feels weird seeing Seattle at #8). Also, if you had to look at this table, who do you think is the last MLS team alive in this season's CONCACAF Champions League?
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If you guess Montreal Impact, you were right! Yeah, they're not doing well in the MLS season but they knocked out a strong Mexican team Pachuca and are currently leading on aggregate against Alajuelense (the Costa Rican club that beat DC United). In the other semifinal, another Costa Rican club Herediano is leading 3-0 on aggregiate against the big Mexican club Club America. Speaking of Liga MX, there's 7 games left for each team before the Clausura Liguilla (Playoffs). Currently the teams that would participate with their seeds are 1.Tijuana 2.Veracruz 3.Guadalajara 4.Cruz Azul 5.America 6.Atlas 7.UANL 8.Toluca, but there's a sizeable chase pack consisting of Chiapas, Pachuca, UNAM, Monterrey, and Leones Negroes hot on Toluca's heels.

European Title Chasers

Here's an update on the title races from some of the big leagues in Europe

Barclays Premier League (England): 1.Chelsea (67 pts) 2.Manchester City (61) 3.Arsenal(60) 4.Manchester United(59)

Add a game in hand, it's Chelsea league title to lose. However it's very tight for 2nd and 3rd place which provides a spot in the UEFA Champions League, with 4th place having to go through some qualifying matches to get there.

Bundesliga(Germany): 1.Bayern Munich(64 pts) 2.Wolfsburg(54) 3.Borussia Monchengladbach(47) 4.Bayer Leverkusen(45)

The rest of the Bundesliga is closing the gap on Bayern Munich compared to last season where by now Bayern Munich had already won. However, it's still Bayern's to lose and I don't see them losing it.

La Liga(Spain): 1.Barcelona(68) 2.Real Madrid(64) 3.Valencia(60) 4.Atletico Madrid(59)

A tighter race between 1st and 2nd that the two leagues above. The big clubs have dropped points against some unlikely opponents so it's far from over. Keep an eye on Valencia. If they can avoid being robbed of too many of their key players this summer, who knows they might be able to shake things up like Atletico Madrid did last (and this) season.

Ligue 1(France): 1.PSG(59) 2.Lyon(58) 3.Marseille(57) 4.Monaco(53)

You wouldn't be as confident betting on PSG to win their league as you would Bayern Munich or Juventus, that's for sure. Overall the quality of the league as a whole has seen an improvement this season as Monaco showed in the Champions League and Lyon and Marseille have shown domestically

Serie A(Italy): 1.Juventus(67) 2.Roma(53) 3.Lazio(52) 4.Sampdoria(48)

This is kinda depressing. Even with the injury problems they've had Juventus has almost a 5 game lead. With 10 games to go mathematically it's not over but, it's over. Remember when I said Napoli and Fiorentina have played well in Europa League and with their talent they would be cool to watch in the Champions League? Looks like they've been saving their best games for Europe and not Italy. Look at Sampdoria though. How are they in the top 4? Let alone the top 10! Impressive.

Battle of Nations

2016 UEFA Euro Qualifiers, International friendlies, the Copa America in June, the Gold Cup in July, and the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada this summer. A lot of good matches to enjoy this spring/summer season, spoiled for choice. And let's not forget World Cup Qualifying has already begun...albeit for small teams like Belize and India (by small I mean relative soccer power, obviously India is a big country in size and population).

So yeah, it's good to be a sports fan at this time of year. Oh yeah, and baseball season's almost here. I'll leave you guys with a reminder of the groups for Copa America, Gold Cup, and the Women's World Cup

Copa America (Host: Chile, CONMEBOL winner earns a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup)
Group A: Chile, Mexico(invited), Ecuador, Bolivia
Group B: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Jamaica(invited)
Group C: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela

Gold Cup (Host: USA; CONCACAF winner earns a playoff with the USA for a spot in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup; If USA wins, they qualify automatically)
Group A: USA, Panama, Haiti, Honduras
Group B: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, Canada
Group C: Mexico, Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba

Women's World Cup (Host: Canada)
Group A: Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands
Group B: Germany, Cote D'Ivoire, Norway, Thailand
Group C: Japan, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ecuador
Group D: USA, Australia, Sweden, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, South Korea, Spain, Costa Rica
Group F: France, England, Colombia, Mexico

Leave a comment with your thoughts on anything I covered. Thank you for reading!
-Ivan Ornelas

MLS Cup 2014 Review

December 7th, 2014 at the Stub Hub Center, Carson, CA

Western Conference Champion: LA Galaxy
Starting 11
GK: Jaime Penedo (Panama)
RB: AJ DeLaGarza (Guam)
CB: Omar Gonzalez
CB: Leonardo (Brazil)
LB: Robbie Rogers
RM: Stefan Ishizaki (Sweden)
CM: Marcelo Sarvas (Brazil)
CM: Juninho (Brazil)
LM: Landon Donovan
FW: Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland) Team Captain
FW: Gyasi Zardes
Subs
GK: Brian Rowe
LB: Todd Dunivant
RB: Dan Gargan 91' for Rodgers
CB: Tommy Meyer
CM: Baggio Husidic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) 96' for Juninho
CM: Kenney Walker
FW: Alan Gordon 91' for Ishizaki
Manager:
Bruce Arena

vs.

Eastern Conference Champion: New England Revolution
GK: Bobby Shuttleworth
RB: Andrew Farrell
CB: AJ Soares
CB: Jose Goncalves (Portugal)
LB: Chris Tierney
CDM: Scott Caldwell
CDM: Jermaine Jones
RM: Teal Bunbury
CAM: Lee Nguyen
LM: Kelyn Rowe
FW: Charlie Davies
Subs
GK: Brad Knighton
RB: Kevin Alston
CB: Darrius Barnes
CDM: Andy Dorman (Wales) 90+1' for Nguyen
CM: Daigo Kobayashi (Japan) 58' for Caldwell
FW: Diego Fagundez (Uruguay)
FW: Patrick Mullins 72' for Davies
Manager:
Jay Heaps

Result
Gyasi Zardes scored first but Chris Tierney responded which tied the game up 1-1. The game went into extra time but was decided by Robbie Keane, the MLS Season and Final MVP, who scored the winning goal. With a 2-1 score after extra time, the Los Angeles Galaxy won their 5th MLS Cup, now solely in 1st place for most championships won by a single club in the history of Major League Soccer.

Interestingly enough while the Galaxy have won 5, the New England Revolution have now been to 5 MLS Cup finals and lost each of them. Some might say they're the MLS version of the Buffalo Bills. Despite the sting of defeat at the final hurdle being reintroduced to the New England fans, they did very well to get this far, given the amount of attention they received and the kind of team they were perceived to be in the first half of the season.

The first thing that comes to mind is Landon Donovan. A few days after the All Star Game where he was important in the MLS All Stars defeating Bayern Munich 2-1, he announces his retirement at the end of the season. One of the greatest American soccer players of all time, he has done a lot for his national team and Major League Soccer over 14 years or so. His biggest criticism comes from his failed stints in Germany playing for Bayern Munich and Leverkusen, but his brief spell at Everton in between MLS seasons showed that he did have the potential to play in a big European league but instead he chose to play in the United States and help grow the sport there.

Since Donovan became an MLS icon each year it seemed the MLS became a bit more star studded and gained more and more talented players. Not many people when David Beckham joined Landon Donovan in LA Galaxy thought that he would be followed by players such as Robbie Keane, Thierry Henry, Rafael Marquez, and Tim Cahill. In recent years several other important members of the USMNT such as Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, DaMarcus Beasley, and Jermaine Jones, who featured in this year's championship match, left either Europe or Mexico to play the beautiful game in the USA.

Landon Donovan ends his career with many accolades including 6 MLS Cups as well as the record for most goals scored in MLS history. But this is more than just Landon Donovan's story.

Even though Robbie Keane is used to bigger crowds in places like White Hart Lane, he continues to contribute to this leagues growth and his hunger for titles is evident. He's made himself right at home with the LA Galaxy.

It was a significant year for AJ DeLaGarza on and off the pitch. Easily LA Galaxy's most important defender, he had a great season. However, his son Luca was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a serious congenital birth defect. In September, Luca died just at one week old. This only fueled the motivation present in this evidently tight knit group of players.

I could go on and on. From Robbie Rodgers going from retiring after coming out as gay to ending up on a championship team, Jaime Penedo's recent rise to success just over a year after an incredible campaign with Panama at the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the importance of the Brazilian midfield duo of Juninho and Marcelo Sarvas, but you guys get the picture. Ultimately the Los Angeles Galaxy not only seemed destined to win but they were built to win. They had the right pieces in building a strong team and they didn't disappoint. They might not have won the Supporters Shield Trophy like the Seattle Sounders but for the MLS winning the MLS Cup is the biggest trophy you can win....aside from the CONCACAF Champions League, where DC United and Montreal Impact will hope to become the first MLS side to win the trophy in the tournament's current form.

The debate as to whether the playoffs or the season should be more important will go on and on because this isn't the sort of thing that's common in most of the top soccer leagues in the world. Mexico and Australia's leagues have a playoff format, and playoffs are used in England and Germany for promotion and relegation between the different tiers. Ultimately for the MLS the playoffs are just something special that people will have to accept if they want to enjoy this league. And if the amount of people that visit the Stub Hub Center or Century Link Field this season among other stadia to support their team suggests, there's plenty of fans to go around.

It was a good season for the MLS. Sending the 10th most players to the 2014 FIFA World Cup out of all the world's leagues, ahead of leagues such as the Eredivisie, Belgian Pro League, Raiffeisen, and Scottish Premier League and just two behind Portugal's Primeira Liga, as well as attracting some notable players to the league such as the aforementioned and including Jermain Defoe, Rais M'Bolhi, and Julio Cesar, it only continues to grow. MLS without Landon Donovan will be just like MLB without Derek Jeter next season, it's going to feel strange without such an icon and star player around. But Orlando City and New York City FC join the league as we wave goodbye to Chivas USA. Donovan and Henry may be leaving but Frank Lampard, David Villa, Kaka, and maybe some more players will be joining us. 20 clubs next season and with the quality of players currently in the league, hopefully it will be an even better season than this one.

MLS Playoffs: The Stars Align

For most of MLS's short history, parity was part of the identity. The gap between the 1st place team and last place team in the league usually looked minuscule compared to the gaps between the best and worst teams from leagues such as La Liga and Bundesliga. However the final 4 remaining clubs in the MLS Playoffs are exactly what most people expected, as they were probably the most star studded teams this season.

11 of the 28 players who were at some point on the roster for the 2014 MLS All Star Game against Bayern Munich come from clubs still in the playoffs: Clint Dempsey (Sounders), Osvaldo Alonso (Sounders), Obafemi Martins (Sounders), Landon Donovan (Galaxy), Tim Cahill (Red Bulls), Thierry Henry (Red Bulls), DeAndre Yedlin (Sounders), Bradley Wright-Phillips (Red Bulls), Omar Gonzalez (Galaxy), Robbie Keane (Galaxy), and Chad Marshall (Sounders) (although Gonzalez, Keane, and Marshall ultimately did not play due to injuries or unavailability). And even players who didn't make this roster such as Marco Pappa (Sounders), Luis Robles (Red Bulls), Gyasi Zardes (Galaxy), Lee Nguyen (Revolution), and Jermaine Jones (Revolution; summer transfer from Turkish club Besiktas) have been among the most talked about players this season.

From a neutral's perspective it's probably the best Western Conference and Eastern Conference playoff showdowns you could ask for.

The more anticipated of the two are LA Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders. They've had a lot of big encounters all season long, and you simply can't wait for Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane to bump heads with Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey. Throw in other talented players like Omar Gonzalez, DeAndre Yedlin, Marco Pappa, and Gyasi Zardes and it will definitely be a good one. The biggest storyline of all is will this be the end of the road for Landon Donovan's career?

Red Bulls vs. Revolutions aren't to be overlooked though. Bradley Wright-Phillips for New York and Lee Nguyen for New England have been big revelations this year for their respective clubs as they are having the seasons of their lives. These two have a longer rivalry than their Western counterparts and no less fierce. And parallel to Donovan's storyline is Henry's, who is considering retirement as well.

My predictions: Sounders and NYRB in the MLS Cup final