Chapter V

soccer


The headliner is Manchester City traveling to struggling Nottingham Forest, where City's near-perfect record is heavily favored to extend, though Forest will be hoping to nick a sitter off a mistake and salvage a draw at home. Earlier in the day, Arsenal hosts lowly Hull City as the heaviest favorite on the slate and should be chasing a clean sheet and a big scoreline, while Newcastle United at Fulham is the closest thing to a toss-up, a game that could easily end nil-nil if neither side finds a clinical through ball.

Tottenham's trip to relegation-threatened Leeds United rounds out the day, with Spurs favored on the road but far from a lock given Leeds' need for points.

EPL · 6 Nov · The week ahead

Nashville SC heads into Cincinnati carrying the best record in the league, and with the MLS playoffs looming, a slip here would be a sitter handed right to FC Cincinnati. Keep an eye on Inter Miami hosting Charlotte, where a lopsided betting line suggests Miami is chasing a clean sheet at home, and on Red Bull New York against Atlanta, a tight draw-on-paper matchup that could easily end nil-nil if neither side finds the net early.

MLS · 6 Nov · The week ahead

The World Cup's gone quiet after all that stoppage-time drama, no clean sheets to track and no through balls to admire for now. A new season's on the way eventually, so keep that draw-or-drama energy warm for whenever the pitch lights back up.

World Cup · offseason

The marquee event on the slate is the FIFA World Cup Final, with Argentina taking on Spain at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford tomorrow evening — about as big as football gets. Argentina arrive as defending champions looking to go back-to-back, while Spain will be desperate to deny them and claim the trophy on North American soil.

A nil-nil draw through ninety minutes would push it to extra time, but expect both sides to push for a winner early rather than settle into the kind of cagey affair that ends in penalties.

World Cup · from 18 Jul