How to watch soccer smarter: What to watch beyond the ball itself Trying to watch soccer and understand it at Pep Guardiola’s level? Though you’ll never get there, it’s possible to train your brain — and eyes — to focus on certain things that can help make sense of the chaos.
Football
1:59 PM ET In tribute to Diego Maradona, Napoli unveiled a new statue of him at their stadium ahead of their match against Sassuolo. The Argentine legend would have turned 62 years old tomorrow, which is why Naples wanted to celebrate Maradona before kick-off. 2 Related He also played at Barcelona, Sevilla, and Boca Juniors
6:41 AM ET Erling Haaland is the Premier League’s top scorer this season. Marc Atkins/Getty Images Erling Haaland will miss Manchester City‘s Premier League game against Leicester City on Saturday. The striker, who has scored 22 goals in all competitions this season, was substituted at half-time of City’s goalless Champions League draw with Borussia Dortmund in
9:26 AM ET Jeff Kassouf The origin story of the Kansas City Current‘s run to the NWSL Championship begins with a victory over OL Reign. Not the 2-0 win on Sunday over the Shield-winning Reign in the semifinal in Seattle. That gutsy result clinched the Current’s spot in this year’s NWSL Championship, set for Saturday
5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes rivals Manchester United “are back” and thinks Erik ten Hag’s team could mount a title challenge in the second half of the season. United haven’t won the Premier League since 2013 and last season finished sixth in the Premier League table. – Stream on
6:43 PM ET The Houston Dynamo have agreed terms with Ben Olsen to become the team’s next manager, a league source confirmed to ESPN. The Athletic was the first to report the news. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, more (U.S.) Olsen, 45, will replace Paulo Nagamura, who was fired with five games to
5:15 PM ET Associated Press Women’s soccer is seeing growing revenues globally from sponsorships, broadcast deals and merchandising, while also seeing greater interest from fans, according to a new survey by the game’s governing body. FIFA released its second benchmarking report on women’s soccer on Friday as the sport gains momentum ahead of next summer’s
1:36 PM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Barcelona‘s players were called to the Camp Nou early on Wednesday, arriving a couple of hours before the start of their Champions League game with Bayern Munich and a fraction after the start of Inter Milan‘s Champions League game with Viktoria Plzen. The coach, Xavi Hernandez, had set up
12:42 PM ET Tite, left, and Neymar, right, have opposite perspectives on how politics and sports should interact. Will that disconnect doom the national team? CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images In less than three weeks, Brazil — the football team — head to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar among the favourites to win it
10:25 AM ET Associated Press Pablo Mari is loan at Serie A side Monza from Arsenal. Sportinfoto/DeFodi Images via Getty Images Monza defender Pablo Mari faces three months out injured after suffering non-life threatening injuries in a knife attack at an Italian shopping centre. Mari, who is on loan from Arsenal, survived the attack on Thursday