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Happy Friday! It’s officially postseason time in the US as the NWSL Playoffs kick off on Friday and another crucial round of MLS matches take place this weekend. I’m Pardeep Cattry with a weekend preview.
📺 Foot correction
Always US/East
Friday November 8
WSL: Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur, 2:30 PM ➡️ ESPN2
🇺🇸 NWSL Playoffs: Orlando Pride vs. Chicago Red Stars, 8pm ➡️ Amazon Prime Video
🇺🇸🇨🇦 MLS Cup Playoffs: LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 10:30 PM ➡️ Apple TV+
Saturday November 9
🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Madrid vs. Osasuna, 8 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+
🇩🇪 Bundesliga: St. Pauli vs. Bayern Munich, 9:30 am ➡️ ESPN2
🇺🇸 NWSL Playoffs: Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage, 12pm ➡️ CBS, Biggest+
🇮🇹 Serie A: Cagliari vs. AC Milan, 12:00 ➡️ Biggest+
🏴ꠁԠԠԠԠԠ EPL: Liverpool vs. Aston Villa, 3pm ➡️ Peacock
🇺🇸 MLS Cup Playoffs: Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United, 8pm ➡️ Apple TV+
Sunday November 10th
🏴ꠁԠԠԠԠԠ EPL: Chelsea vs. Arsenal, 11:30am ➡️ USA Network
🇺🇸 NWSL Playoffs: Washington Spirit vs. Bay FC, 12:30 PM ➡️ ABC
🇮🇹 Serie A: Inter vs. Napoli, 2:45 PM ➡️ Biggest+
🇺🇸 NWSL Playoffs: NJ/NY Gotham vs. Portland Thorns, 3pm ➡️ ABC
🇪🇸 La Liga: Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona, 3 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+
⚽ The forward line
🏆 Let the NWSL Playoffs begin
USATSI
After an entertaining regular season, the biggest edition of the NWSL Playoffs kicks off on Friday, with eight teams competing for a spot in the NWSL Championship in two weeks.
The postseason begins with this weekend’s quarterfinals, which will focus on the top four teams from the regular season: Shield winners Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, NJ/NY Gotham FC and Kansas City Current. The group were by far the best teams in the regular season, leaving a 16-point gap between them and the rest of the table. Now it remains to be seen if they can extend that success into a deep postseason run, and perhaps a trophy when all is said and done.
The favorites for the NWSL’s ultimate prize are of course the Pride. The team recorded their first-ever playoff appearance in style, winning their first-ever trophy and setting the league’s unbeaten streak to 23 games. They will host the Chicago Red Stars on Friday, who are having a solid season under first-year head coach Lorne Donaldson but have fallen from sixth to eighth in recent weeks and will have to correct course against a stylistically similar, but more dominant team. as Sandra Herrera writes.
- Herrera: Orlando will face a team with a similar mentality on Friday. Chicago Red Stars are also a team that prefers fewer possessions and quick clinical finishing. Chicago head coach Lorne Donaldson has used his first year with the team primarily as a chance to stabilize a once unstable squad. But lately it’s been more low-blocking and absent goals. Tactical similarities are where things end between the two sides, with one goal in almost a month no more scoring threat. , Ludmila, who is serving game two of a three-match suspension for a red card foul against Washington Spirit on October 20.”
The playoffs continue Saturday when the Current host the North Carolina Courage, with a focus on the availability of Temwa Chawinga. The NWSL MVP contender leads the league with 20 goals but has been in and out of the team in recent weeks with an undisclosed injury. She came off the break at halftime of the Current’s NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup win over Gotham on Oct. 25, but also sat out last week’s win at the Red Stars in what the team described as a precautionary measure .
While the Current will be able to find goals elsewhere, head coach Vlatko Andonovski quit Attacking Third this week to argue for Chawinga’s MVP credentials.
- Andonovsky: “Her ability to score goals is something that makes her different, but there are so many other things. Obviously it’s the goals, what gets everyone’s attention, the stats, the assists, but Temwa is a player who makes a team in so many different ways makes it better.” Whether defensively or offensively, she helps the team. Whether it concerns the press, or winning the ball, or helping the defense, but on the other side, in the build-up, or creating space for the other. players. She is a special player, and she is a lot of fun to watch. I mean, obviously we see her in the minutes, or you see her 90 minutes in the game, but I see her every day in training and some of the things she does. do. It’s fun.”
The last three NWSL champions are in action on Sunday, when the attacking Spirit hosts defensively solid Bay FC, only the second NWSL expansion team to reach the postseason, and 2023 champion Gotham hosts the Portland Thorns , the winners of 2022.
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🔗 Link play in midfield
🌴Inter Miami’s winner-takes-all moment
Getty Images
While four teams have already booked their spots in the MLS Conference Finals, four more spots are up for grabs this weekend as the final round of the best-of-three series comes to a close.
The most talked-about match of the weekend takes place in South Florida, when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosts Atlanta United. At the start of the series, it was perhaps considered the most lopsided game in the playoffs: Miami is the new winner of the Supporters’ Shield, while Atlanta sneaked into the postseason as the ninth seed and ended the regular season with a regular goal difference. However, Atlanta has kept both matchups tight, losing the first game 2-1 and then pulling off a surprising 2-1 win at home last week to send the series to a third game.
Miami will obviously rely on their star talent to progress on Saturday, as Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba already have a goal each in this series and Messi has an assist. However, Atlanta played them in a fairly even game last week, even beating Miami 13 to 11 on their way to victory. They will likely look to repeat that plan this weekend, which would allow them to eliminate the MLS Cup favorites if they succeed.
The Supporters’ Shield winners aren’t the only toppers in danger of leaving the play-offs earlier than they would like this week. LAFC, the top team in the Western Conference, will conclude their series against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Friday after a competitive first set of matches. LAFC won the first match in an evenly matched match, and although the stats were similar in the second match last week, the Whitecaps outscored LAFC with a 3-0 win.
Elsewhere, FC Cincinnati will battle New York City FC for a spot in the next round, while Orlando City will host Charlotte FC.
🔗 Top stories
🌎 NWSL goes global: Here’s how the signings of Temwa Chawinga, Barbra Banda and more international players signal the NWSL’s drive to evolve in an increasingly competitive women’s football landscape.
🇪🇺 UCL rewind: Here are the latest editions of the Champions League power rankings and team of the week after a busy round of fixtures that saw Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain on the wrong side of losses.
👎 Mbappe’s bad week: Kylian Mbappe’s poor performance in Real Madrid’s loss to AC Milan shows he has not yet clicked with his new club, although he will not get a chance to showcase his talents for the national team after being left out of the French selection.
🎠 MLS coaching carousel: Bruce Arena got his first job since being placed on administrative leave by MLS last year, joining the San Jose Earthquakes as head coach and sporting director. Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Union fired Jim Curtin after a decade in charge.
⚽ Must-see destination: Stanford booked a spot in the ACC Men’s Soccer Championship in style, with Dylan Hooper scoring a golazo with seconds left on the clock.
💰The Backline
💵 Best bets
- Premier League: Liverpool vs. Aston Villa, Saturday, 3pm
💰 THE PICK: Liverpool wins 2-1 (+700) – This choice is largely inspired by recent form, with Liverpool still close to perfect under new manager Arne Slot and Aston Villa now winless in their last four. There is little reason to bet against Liverpool in these circumstances, so expect them to take advantage of a Villa defense that has conceded 15 goals in the league so far this season. The Reds may not get out of this situation without a fight. Villa have already scored 17 goals this season and could perhaps score another at Anfield. - Premier League: Chelsea vs. Arsenal, Sunday, 11.30am
💰 THE CHOICE: Cole Palmer scores (+195) – With seven goals and five assists and unburdened by European competition so far this season, Cole Palmer is perhaps the most in-form player likely to feature at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Expect him to play a big role for Chelsea as they look to extend Arsenal’s winless run to four games while retaining a top-four spot.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss CBSSports.com’s betting homepage.
📺 What’s on CBS Sports Golazo Network
☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10am): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network’s flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest football storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast formso you never miss an episode again.
3️⃣ Attacking third (Monday, Thursday): The leading ladies football podcast And social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women’s game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will analyze the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic seasons throughout the year. And don’t miss it Wednesday livestreams on YouTube at 11 a.m. ET.
⚽ Call it what you want (Monday evenings): A weekly podcast featuring Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and friends cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can also watch the show live every Monday at 11 a.m. ET on YouTube.
🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the latest place for fans to keep up to date with all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the best football leagues and all the unmissable goals from the day’s action, which starts on Thursday and airs for seven days a week.
📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel solely focused on providing unparalleled coverage of all the top football leagues worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports App, Pluto TV And Biggest+.
Do you want more attention for women’s football? Listen below and be sure to watch Attacking Third on Golazo Network Mondays and Fridays for all your USWNT, NWSL and WSL women’s soccer coverage.