UEFA Women's Champions League draw delivers huge matches; Premier League title tile between Arsenal, Man City
Welcome to the weekend! Europe's top teams are trading UEFA Champions League action for league play this weekend. Plus, it's time to get excited about the UEFA Women's Champions League after Friday's league phase draw. I'm Pardeep Cattry with the latest ahead of a jam-packed weekend.
📺 Footy fixAll times U.S./Eastern
Friday, Sept. 19🇺🇸 NWSL: Utah Royals vs. Racing Louisville, 10 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
Saturday, Sept. 20🇩🇪 Bundesliga: Hoffenheim vs. Bayern Munich, 9:30 a.m. ➡️ ESPN+🇪🇸 LaLiga: Real Madrid vs. Espanyol, 10:15 a.m. ➡️ ESPN+🏴 EPL: Manchester United vs. Chelsea, 12:30 p.m. ➡️ USA Network🇮🇹 Serie A: Udinese vs. AC Milan, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+🇺🇸 NWSL: Kansas City Current vs. Seattle Reign, 7:30 p.m. ➡️ Ion🇺🇸🇨🇦 MLS: Sporting Kansas City vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 8:30 p.m. ➡️ MLS Season Pass
Sunday, Sept. 21🏴 EPL: Arsenal vs. Manchester City, 11:30 a.m. ➡️ Peacock🇪🇸 LaLiga: Barcelona vs. Getafe, 3 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+🇺🇸 NWSL: Bay FC vs. Gotham FC, 8:30 p.m. ➡️ ESPN2🇺🇸 MLS: LAFC vs. Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m. ➡️ FS1
⚽ The Forward Line🇪🇺 UWCL drawby Mike Goodman
The league phase tournament structure is making it's debut this season in the Women's UEFA Champions League, and Friday's draw delivered a handful of mouthwatering matches to look forward to. The league phase contains 18 teams, each of whom will play six matches, three home and three away with the top four sides at the end of the league phase advancing directly to the quarterfinals, the next eight finishers will face off in a two-legged playoff to advance to the final eight.
Fresh off destroying Chelsea in the semifinals of last year's tournament, Barcelona will be heading to Chelsea this season. Defending champions Arsenal, meanwhile have a match with powerhouse OL Lyonesse to look forward to, while Manchester United's arrival at the league phase, which happens after winning their win in through the qualifying rounds sees them rewarded with a chance to host not only that Lyonesse side but also Paris Saint-Germain. Don't miss the full list of matchups. The league phase gets underway on October 7.
Streaming Free on Monday 👀The Premier League season may only be four games old but the early weeks of the new campaign will deliver yet another meeting of regional heavyweights, this time seeing Arsenal host Manchester City in a match that will test both sides' mettle in the title race.
The Gunners have definitely been the more consistent of the two teams so far, their only loss of the season so far coming in a 1-0 result at Liverpool in an evenly contested match. There is something unresolved about Arsenal at this juncture of the season, though -- manager Mikel Arteta has a deep squad that is custom-built for a title charge, but he has yet to make a final decision on how to take advantage of their newfound depth. He selected a new-look front three for Arsenal's last two matches, a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and a 2-0 win at Athletic Club in the Champions League, with Viktor Gyokeres flanked by Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze. The results were ultimately mixed -- the trio clicked against Forest, but while Madueke kept up the good work in Bilbao, Gyokeres was wasteful and Eze exited with zero shots. To make matters more interesting, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandor Trossard made the most of their minutes as substitutes in Europe with a goal and an assist each.
City, meanwhile, have two wins in their last two, turning things around after two defeats just before the international break. How well Pep Guardiola's rebuild is going, though, is a question, since a 3-0 win over Manchester United and a 2-0 win against a 10-man Napoli come with their own asterisks. Even as Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush remain injured, Guardiola may be able to call upon a couple of mainstays -- Erling Haaland and Phil Foden. The pair excelled against Napoli, with Foden assisting Haaland's goal, while the Norwegian nabbed a brace against United, once again making him a perfect break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option for City.
🔗 Top Stories⏪ UCL rewind: Paris Saint-Germain pick up from where they left off by topping the first edition of the Champions League power rankings, while Vinicius Junior's benching headlines a list of Champions League overreactions.
🌴 Staying in Miami: Lionel Messi is reportedly close to signing a multiyear extension with Inter Miami, which would keep the star around in MLS after the 2026 World Cup.
🔵🔴 Rashford's big night: Barcelona notched a 2-0 win at Newcastle United to open their Champions League campaign on Tuesday, all thanks to a brace from a revitalized Marcus Rashford.
🔴 Liverpool survive again: Liverpool's win over Atletico Madrid may prove that they are the kings of late goals but the 3-2 victory leaves many issues unresolved for the Premier League champions.
✅ NWSL updates: NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman described the decision to abandon the Seattle Reign-Racing Louisville game after Savannah DeMelo's medical event as a "no-brainer," and also offered updates on expansion, a World Cup break and their application for a Division II league.
👋 KDB's brief return: Napoli's Kevin de Bruyne lasted just 25 minutes in his return to Manchester City in the Champions League on Thursday, with manager Antonio Conte making a tactical substitution a few minutes after the team went down to 10.
⭐ A star is born: Marcus Thuram may have bagged a brace in Inter's win at Ajax but there Francesco Pio Esposito's star is on the rise after a strong Champions League debut on Wednesday.
↕️ NWSL power rankings: Gotham FC are rising up the ranks in the latest batch of NWSL power rankings, but the Kansas City Current are still the cream of the crop.
💰 The Back Line💵 Best bets- Premier League: Manchester United vs. Chelsea, Saturday, 12:30 p.m.💰 THE PICK: Joao Pedro to score (+185) – Chelsea have been off to a rough start this season with just two wins in five games across all competitions but a match against Manchester United should offer an opportunity to improve morale. Cole Palmer will be the easy pick as a goalscorer on Saturday and he may still find the back of the net, which would extend his goalscoring run to three goals in three games, but United's haphazard defense means it just might be open season for the many Chelsea attackers manager Enzo Maresca has at his disposal. In that case, might as well pick Joao Pedro – he may be an inconsistent goalscorer but he does have two goals already this season and his form at the Club World Cup demonstrates he's as good a pick as any to score on Saturday.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don't miss out on CBSSports.com's betting home page.
📺 What We're Watching☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Join Golazo Network as it helps fans get their day started on the right foot on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.3️⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday): The leading women's soccer 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 be breaking down the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic season all year long. And don't miss Sunday live streams on YouTube as soon as the last NWSL game of the weekend ends.⚽ Call it What You Want (Tuesday and Thursday): Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies, and Tony Meola cover all things USMNT and the state of the game in the United States as the country prepares to co-host the 2026 World Cup. Catch new episodes live on the Golazo America YouTube channel every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
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