Informational/Did You Know

Manchester City will again have to do without their leading scorer Erling Haaland when they face Newcastle United in the Premier League this weekend, but Kevin De Bruyne could make his first start of the season since Aug. 11, Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

Haaland, with 14 league goals in 15 games is joint top scorer in the Premier League alongside Liverpool's Mohamed Salah, but has missed City's last eight games in all competitions with a foot injury.

Inter Miami CF signed free agent wingback and midfielder Julian Gressel through the 2026 season.

The deal was sealed Tuesday includes an option for 2027 and reunites Gressel with head coach Tata Martino.

Gressel, 30, won the 2018 MLS Cup playing for Martino with Atlanta United FC.

Gressel added another championship last season, lifting the 2023 MLS Cup with the Columbus Crew.

Julian Gressel Inter Miami transfer

If there’s one NWSL team name we weren’t the biggest fans of it was “OL Reign.” That won’t be an issue anymore as an OL Reign rebrand will see the club revert to their roots with a name change to Seattle Reign FC and a revamped crest.

OL Reign rebrand

National Women’s Soccer League champions Gotham FC are the talk of free agency. The Bats have their eyes set on several high-profile players and have so far confirmed the signings of two USWNT stars.

Crystal Dunn and Tierna Davidson are the first two players set to take their talents to the east coast for the 2024 season.

Gotham FC announced the signing of Dunn on New Year’s Eve and then revealed Davidson as a new player on Tuesday.

Gotham FC signings

We here at The18 are suckers for a good downtown soccer stadium in the United States. Whether it’s MLS, NWSL or USL, a shiny stadium in the heart of a city hits the same.

Oklahoma City looks to be the latest major U.S. metro area ready to add the beautiful game in the downtown area.

The 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal on Saturday, Dec. 23, brought in more viewers than any other Premier League game in U.S. history, announced NBC.

A total of 1.96 million viewers tuned in to NBC, Peacock and other NBC Sports Digital platforms to see the top of the table clash.

The mark of 1.96 million English-language viewers surpasses the previous record held by a game between Arsenal and Manchester United on Jan. 22, 2023, which hit viewership numbers of 1.92 million.

Liverpool vs. Arsenal game breaks U.S. viewership records

LaLiga club Real Betis officially announced the transfer of United States men’s national team midfielder Johnny Cardoso on Wednesday. 

The 22-year-old defensive midfielder became a regular starter for Brazilian club Internacional where he made 144 appearances. Cardoso mostly played as a defensive midfielder but still managed to tally seven goals and five assists with Internacional.

Real Betis paid $6.3 million for the American according to ESPN as Cardoso signed a five-year contract.

Johnny Cardoso Real Betis transfer

One unwritten rule of soccer that doesn’t really exist in other sports is the art of players not celebrating if they score a goal against a team they formerly played on.

Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood took that unwritten rule to heart on Boxing Day when netted a hat trick against his former club, Newcastle. 

The New Zealand forward was the hero in Forest’s massive 3-1 victory but hardly celebrated as he followed the unwritten rule of not celebrating after scoring against a former team.

Chris Wood not celebrating vs. Newcastle

The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that European soccer's governing body UEFA and its global counterpart FIFA breached EU law when they prevented 12 clubs from forming a European Super League (ESL).

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN SUPER LEAGUE?

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus plus nine other European major clubs announced the breakaway ESL -- a closed league -- in April 2021.

Sports development company A22 assisted with creating the ESL.

Gotham FC are the talk of NWSL free agency as the reigning league champs are in advanced talks with multiple big names. This latest era of Gotham FC free agency could be one for the books.

No free agents have officially signed yet, but the Bats are in contact with the likes of Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, Crystal Dunn and Tierna Davidson.

Gotham FC free agency targets