Top games to watch this week
Friday, August 19
Sevilla vs Real Valladolid (La Liga)
Borussia M'Gladbach vs Hertha Berlin (Bundesliga)
Olympique Lyon vs Troyes (Ligue 1)
LA Galaxy vs Seattle Sounders FC (MLS)
Saturday, August 20
Tottenham vs Wolves (English Premier League)
Bournemouth vs Arsenal (English Premier League)
Celta de Vigo vs Real Madrid (La Liga)
Inter vs Spezia (Serie A)
Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen (Bundesliga)
Porto vs Sporting CP (Primeira Liga)
Marseille vs Nantes (Ligue 1)
DC United vs Philadelphia Union (MLS)
SJ Earthquakes vs Los Angeles FC (MLS)
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Quarter Final 1
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Quarter Final 2
Monterrey vs Tigres UANL (Liga MX)
América vs Cruz Azul (Liga MX)
Sunday, August 21
Pumas UNAM vs Santos Laguna (Liga MX)
Leeds United vs Chelsea (English Premier League)
Newcastle vs Manchester City (English Premier League)
Atlético vs Villarreal (La Liga)
Real Sociedad vs Barcelona (La Liga)
Atalanta vs Milan (Serie A)
Bochum vs Bayern München (Bundesliga)
Lille vs PSG (Ligue 1)
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Quarter Final 3
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Quarter Final 4
Chicago Fire vs New York City (MLS)
Monday, August 22
Manchester United vs Liverpool (English Premier League)
Roma vs Cremonese (Serie A)
Sampdoria vs Juventus (Serie A)
Tuesday, August 23
Viktoria Plzen vs Qarabag (UEFA Champions League)
Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv (UEFA Champions League)
Crvena Zvezda vs Maccabi Haifa (UEFA Champions League)
Guadalajara vs Monterrey (Liga MX)
Querétaro vs América (Liga MX)
Wednesday, August 24
Trabzonspor vs Kobenhavn (UEFA Champions League)
Dynamo Zagreb vs Bodo/Glimt (UEFA Champions League)
PSV vs Rangers (UEFA Champions League)
Barcelona vs Man City (Friendly)
North Carolina Courage vs Portland Thorns (NWSL)
Thursday, August 25
Pachuca vs Atlas (Liga MX)
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Semi-final 1
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: Semi-final 2
Twente vs Fiorentina (UEFA Europa Conference League)
Hajduk Split vs Villarreal (UEFA Europa Conference League)
Most-watched football games in the U.S. - August 8-14, 2022
Once again, European football leagues dominated the highest ratings in the United States. While it may come as no surprise, the fact that many of this week's entries have to do with the Premier League confirms just how interesting that championship has become among U.S. followers.
One more competition that returned to action this week was La Liga, with one match catching the eye of quite a few fans. Unfortunately, there were no goals between Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano, giving fans an excuse to go back to La Liga games set to be played next weekend.
As for the American leagues, the MLS All-Star game was a true standout over last week, although there were some interesting numbers brought in by Liga MX with games featuring Tigres and Club América.
Let us have a look at the numbers last week brought us in terms of football games.
What are this week's must-watch games?
Newcastle vs Manchester City live this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET on USA Network, Telemundo, fuboTV, Sling TV, and SiriusXM FC
The defending Premier League champions gear up another tough test of the new Premier League campaign, with Man City set to face Newcastle this weekend. The Cityzens, one of only two remaining teams with a perfect record, will make the trip to St. James' Park to face Eddie Howe's tricky side. De Bruyne and Co. enter this clash on the back of successive wins over West Ham and Bournemouth. Meanwhile, the Magpies beat Nottingham Forest in the opening round before drawing with Brighton. Don't miss this showdown.
Real Sociedad vs Barcelona live this Sunday at 4 p.m. ET exclusively on ESPN+
Matchday 2 in La Liga is upon us, with the standout fixture being Sunday's showdown between Barcelona and Real Sociedad. The Blaugrana enter this clash on the back of their disappointing result in the opening round, drawing nil-nil at home to Rayo Vallecano despite giving debuts to their two marquee summer signings, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. La Real, on the other hand, triumphed 1-0 over Cadiz but will have to overcome their poor record against the Catalan giants recently.
Manchester United vs Liverpool live this Monday at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock and SiriusXM FC
Two of England's biggest clubs face off this Monday in what could be a devastating fixture for one team. On one hand, you have Manchester United, who have lost their opening two games, struggling to score goals and get points on the table. Ten Hag's side are already bottom of the table and a third straight defeat would be the worst possible start. On the other hand, there is Liverpool, with two draws from their opening two games. Klopp's men are enduring an injury crisis, but with Man City boasting six points out of a possible six, failure to triumph at Old Trafford could prematurely end their title hopes. Make sure to catch the action live on Peacock and SiriusXM FC.
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One of the most interesting weekends of women's football is upon us, as teams from all over the globe will enter key moments in specific competitions.
This time, league football takes a step back to keep fans focused on watching the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica. Some of the teams such as the USWNT and Germany have been shockingly left out of the tournament, and a new generation of footballers has shown the world their true worth in the Central American country.
There may not be as many domestic competitions taking place, but there will be quite a few international tournaments taking place. The Women's International Champions Cup and the Amos Women's French Cup are some of the tournaments to keep an eye on.
Without further ado, let's have a look at what the beautiful game will offer in terms of women's football matches for the next seven days.
2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
The competition has entered its knockout stage with a few surprising contenders to play the final rounds. For starters, the USWNT is long gone after a disappointing performance in the group stage, where they finished third in Group D, which forced them to pack their bags. Now, the title will be determined by other national teams, which will include Spain, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Nigeria, France, and Japan.
Once these matches have been played, keep an eye on the tournament's semi-finals set to be played on Thursday, August 25.
2022 NWSL season
The North American competition returns to action with new things to keep an eye on. This week, the Portland Thorns will have to wait for a loss by the Houston Dash to keep the top spot all to themselves, as both sides are level with 28 points, but the Dash will have played two more games after this weekend, which will give the team from Portland an edge. The match between the Dash and the San Diego Wave will be the highlight of the weekend, as the Californian team led by Alex Morgan will try to go back to winning ways.
There will be some other clubs postponing their matches this week, which is why it will be a good idea to keep the NWSL schedule next to you.
2022 Women's International Champions Cup
One of the most anticipated tournaments in women's football has featured four teams from different regions and is already about to determine its winner. The title clash will see Mexican side Monterrey facing none other than Lyon, but what may be even more surprising will be to see the teams they eliminated to reach the clash for the crown.
The upcoming fixtures will be as follows:
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Portland Thorns vs Chelsea - Third-place game
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Lyon vs Monterrey - Title match
Women's Friendlies
International matches between teams from all over the world will go down in coming days, including teams such as the OL Reign, América, Tottenham Hotspur, AC Milan, PSG, Bayern, or Racing Louisville. The kind of matches we will get is bound to give fans some great moments while also giving them the chance to know some of the up and coming players from other regions.
Here is a list of the most notable Women's Friendly matches taking place this week.
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Milan vs América
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Racing Louisville vs OL Reign
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PSG vs Barcelona
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Manchester United vs Bayern München
For more details on games, standings, and news, visit our dedicated women's soccer page at LiveSoccerTV.com.
Biggest stories of the week
TRANSFER TALK: Juventus aim to secure signature of Barcelona attacker
Juventus kicked off their Serie A season by cruising to a 3-0 win over Sassuolo, but the victory came at a high cost. The Bianconeri are now without the recently acquired Angel Di Maria, who ended up with an adductor injury after scoring his first goal for his new club and is now set to miss at least three weeks to a month of action.
Coupled with injuries to Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa, Juventus are left feeling a bit short in the middle of the park and as such, have turned their attention towards finding some apt replacements. According to reports from Italy, namely Calciomercato.com, La Vecchia Signora have selected Memphis Depay as an option to help boost their attack for this season.
Depay, who is currently on the books at Barcelona, is apparently keen on a move as the arrival of Robert Lewandowski has seen him forced not just to give up his number 9 kit but also will impact how much playing time he gets this season.
The 28-year-old, as per the aforementioned report, has already "agreed" to personal terms with the club on a two year contract worth $6.1 million (€6 million) per season, but this will not be tied up until once some final details with Barcelona are completed, including agreeing on severance pay and other metrics.
2022 Ballon d'Or: France Football explains why Messi was snubbed while Cristiano was nominated
The 30-man shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or has been revealed. It is a who's who list of the best players in world football. However, the exclusion of one superstar raised a few eyebrows.
That man is none other than Lionel Messi, the footballer who has won France Football's prestigious award the most, boasting seven golden balls to his name. While it was obvious the Argentine would not be in the running for a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or, due to his poor debut campaign at PSG and Benzema's stellar season at Real Madrid, the decision to snub him altogether wasn't expected.
This is the first time since 2005 that La Pulga hasn't even been nominated for this gong. Meanwhile, long-term rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who is also not likely to get his hands on this year's award either, got a nod, his 18th nomination in his career (the most by any single footballer).
Not everyone agreed with this decision. While Ronaldo enjoyed a better individual campaign in 2021/22, Leo has enjoyed a better time this calendar year, outscoring and out-assisting his rival while getting his hands on three awards – Ligue 1, the Trophée des Champions, and the Finalissima. The 34-year-old's Man of the Match performance in Argentina's 3-0 win over Italy in the latter event particularly stood out this year.
As a result, France Football journalist Emmanuel Bojan came out to explain the reasoning behind this move. He revealed that the criteria for this award has changed and that the focus is no longer on the calendar year, but instead the season, thus favoring Ronaldo but not La Pulga..
"Inevitably, Lionel Messi, with his 15 appearances in a row since 2006, his seven Ballon d'Or victories, his title holder status, weighs very heavily when it comes to the final choice," Bojan told L'Equipe.
"The Argentinian was part of the discussions to integrate the 30, but the new criteria for the Ballon d'Or were unfavorable to him: disappearance of the criterion of a player's entire career, and new periodicity, modeled on a season of football and no longer over a calendar year, which does not make it possible to integrate the Copa America of July 11, 2021.
"And then, it must be admitted that his first season in Paris was very disappointing both in terms of the visual impression and the statistics."
On the topic of Ronaldo's admission to the 30-man shortlist, the France Football official had this to say: "The statistics say the opposite.
"Ronaldo became the top scorer in national football this season [117 goals]. He was extremely decisive in the Champions League group stage with four off-the-cuff goals that gave Man Utd seven points.
"In the Premier League, he has 18 goals including two hat-tricks. In total, 32 goals in 49 matches is not as many as in his best seasons but enough to be among the 30 best players in the world."
Messi wasn't the only huge name to miss out as PSG teammate Neymar also did not make the list. Check out the 30-man shortlist in full below.
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Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid)
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Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
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Rafael Leao (AC Milan)
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Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig)
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Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)
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Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
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Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid)
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Bernardo Silva (Man City)
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Luis Diaz (Liverpool)
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Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona)
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Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
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Casemiro (Real Madrid)
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Heung-Min Son (Tottenham)
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Fabinho (Liverpool)
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Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
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Mike Maignan (AC Milan)
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Harry Kane (Tottenham)
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Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)
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Phil Foden (Man City)
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Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich)
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Sebastien Haller (Dortmund)
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Luka Modric (Real Madrid)
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Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid)
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Cristiano Ronaldo (Man United)
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Kevin de Bruyne (Man City)
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Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus)
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Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
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Joao Cancelo (Man City)
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Erling Haaland (Man City)
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Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Chelsea willing to offer cash-plus-player deal to sign Barcelona striker
A couple of weeks ago, Chelsea vowed vengeance against Barcelona for hijacking two transfers away from them. Now, the Blues are ready to put the past where it belongs and try to work out a deal that can benefit both sides.
According to reports coming in from England, Chelsea are keen on adding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to their roster, but in order to do that, they are not ready to meet Barcelona's asking price of $25M. Hence, they would be ready to throw in a player to facilitate the move.
Barcelona's interest in signing two more players away from Chelsea has been palpable for the entire summer, with those names being Marcos Alonso and César Azpilicueta. While the Blues' captain has already agreed a contract extension, Alonso is keen on moving back to Spain, and even coach Thomas Tuchel has admitted that the wisest course of action would be to let the left back leave the club. Hence, the English side will try to include Alonso in a cash-plus-player deal that could work both ways.
It seems that this move would satisfy both parties, although it is yet to be revealed how much value Barcelona assign to Alonso in order to facilitate the move. The ball seems to be in Barcelona's corner, and now it will be up to them to see the deal come true.
Britain's richest man reignites his desire to buy Manchester United
A spokesperson of Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe has confirmed that he is once again interested in buying Manchester United from the Glazer Family, a new report from the UK has indicated. The owner of petrochemical giant INEOS is said to be keen on buying a stake in the Premier League club with a view to 'long-term ownership'.
A poor start to the new league season and a circus on the part of Man United in the summer transfer window have seen lovers of the club calling out the ownership. For the umpteenth time, fans are mounting pressure on the Glazer Family to give up their status as majority shareholders and sell the club to another suitor with the view of ending the struggles that have endured since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2014.
In recent times, club legends such as Gary Neville and Roy Keane have spoken out against the mismanagement of the Red Devils and are spearheading calls for the club's current ownership to step away. With rumors circulating that the Glazers might finally concede defeat and sanction the sale of the Old Trafford outfit, a rather insignificant headway was on Wednesday after it became apparent that they willing to sell a minority stake. According to Bloomberg, the American owners have held preliminary talks on new investment, hence this decision. Meanwhile, Manchester United has desisted from commenting on the said development.
Last week, the Independent revealed that three consortiums were exploring the possibility of tabling bids for United amid increasing belief that the Glazers could sanction the club's sale for a whopping $6billion. On Tuesday evening, Tesla billionaire Elon Musk also sparked a frenzy by joking on social media about buying the Red Devils.
Amid the agitation, Sir Jim Ratcliffe - a man touted as Britain's richest man with a net worth of over $13B - has supposedly emerged as the savior for the Old Trafford outfit. Known to be a die-hard fan of the club, his spokesperson has iterated his desire to buy the Premier League club should it be put up for sale.
"If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer," Ratcliffe's spokesperson told The Times.
"If something like this was possible, we would be interested in talking with a view to long-term ownership."
Aside from owning Ineos Group Ltd, Ratcliffe also owns cycling team Ineos Grenadiers and Ligue 1 club Nice. Prior to America businessman Todd Boehly taking over Chelsea this summer, the 69-year-old tabled a last-minute £4.25 billion bid to buy the London club but had his offer rejected.
Other key headlines from the world of football
TRANSFER TALK: Man Utd linked with move for American international
After shockingly losing 2-1 to Brighton at Old Trafford in their season opener, the Red Devils traveled to face Brentford last weekend and were humiliated 4-0. As such, it is no surprise that they have been linked with a crop of players as they are facing a race against time to bring in some much needed reinforcements.
One of these players, according to reports from Spain, is Sergino Dest. Barcelona, despite their debt worries, have been very active in the transfer market, but will need to offload quite a few people in order to successfully register all their new signings.
As per the report, Dest is being offered for approximately $20.2 million (€20 million). The 21-year-old has been making history since arriving at the Camp Nou in 2020. This includes becoming the first American to: sign and play for Barcelona in La Liga, feature in El Clasico, and score a goal for the Blaugrana.
Report: PSG to battle Barcelona for Man City star
Despite playing a key role in the success story of Man City in recent years Bernardo Silva's future has been spotlighted this summer. Although he is still regarded as a crucial piece in the side by Pep Guardiola, the player has seemingly lost his ticket to regularly feature in the starting lineup. With the World Cup just around the corner, the 28-year-old creative midfielder is said to be concerned about the potential lack of playing opportunities in the new campaign and is as a result considering his options.
Barcelona have long retained an interest in securing the service of the Bernardo Silva and are keen on recruiting him this summer. However, multiple reports from the UK have stated that the Portuguese is not keen on forcing his way out despite being flattered by the Blaugrana's interest. With headway yet to be made between the player's representatives and the clubs involved, Paris Saint-Germain have apparently entered the equation to test City's resolve and ruin the plans of the Catalans.
According to The Times, Les Parisians are willing to table an offer in the excess of $71M to acquire the Portugal international from the Premier League champions. Per the report, PSG aim to bolster their ranks in a bid to land the Champions League title for the first time-ever and "are confident that Silva will move to Paris if a fee can be agreed."
Details of Manchester United's bid to sign Casemiro revealed
According to reports coming in from Spain, the Brazilian ace has been tempted by the Red Devils' offer despite being devoted to Real Madrid's cause for almost a decade. Judging by the terms revealed by Spanish newspaper AS about the deal that would lure the player to Old Trafford, we can understand why Casemiro may have some doubts about where to play next season.
Details revealed by AS about Manchester United's deal to hire Casemiro would include paying over €80M for the player's services, although their initial bid would come for less cash. Additionally, the Red Devils would be willing to offer the midfielder a whopping €400,000-per-week for the next five years. That multi-year contract is reported to be the main reason for Casemiro to hold doubts about his future.
Sources indicate that, even if Casemiro is considered key to Carlo Ancelotti's plans, the club would be willing to sell the footballer if the right price is offered to them. Right now, negotiations are still open as Real Madrid have not snubbed Manchester United's interest, especially since Casemiro has shown interest in a move.
