Preview

I’m Minnesotan so you must forgive me; when the Vikings started 5-0, I thought we were going to win the Super Bowl. We didn’t make the playoffs. When the Timberwolves drafted Kris Dunn and hired Tom Thibodeau, I thought we would win the Finals. We have one of the worst records in the Western Conference. However, I truly believe the Wild will win the Stanley Cup this year and that Minnesota United, in their inaugural MLS season, will probably win the Cup.

It’s a familiar scenario for Paris Saint-Germain: on a quest for European dominance and validation as one of the world’s top clubs, but Barcelona stand in their way. Barca eliminated PSG at the quarterfinal stage of both the 2012-13 and 2014-15 Champions League. 

On February 22nd and March 14th, two titans of the goalkeeping position will clash in their final duel at the highest level of the game. Perhaps we shouldn’t ever write-off the possibility of the 35-year-old Iker Casillas and the 39-year-old Gianluigi Buffon encountering each other on the pitch again, but we should be exceptionally grateful for at least one last bout.

The ninth regular season of the W-League is coming to a close as the top teams will play in the W-League semifinals this weekend.

The 2016/17 playoffs will feature three former champions: Sydney FC, Canberra United and Melbourne City, as well as Perth Glory. The nine team league had a clinch breakaway top four as the season began to wind down, which ended with a five-point gap between fourth and fifth. At one point during the season all four of the top clubs held the first position in the table. 

2016 was a great year for the NWSL as the league marked a record fourth season for professional women’s soccer in America. Meanwhile, the US Women’s National Team had a disappointing year, finishing medal-less in Rio following the high of winning the World Cup in 2015. 

Here is a look at the key dates throughout 2017 for both the league and the national team: 

January 1st - Collective Bargaining Agreement Ended

Liverpool will host Manchester City at home on the New Year’s Eve, as both sides chase Chelsea in the table. 

This matchup promises to be the most exciting fixture yet in the current Premier League season, as the two most attacking sides go head-to-head with 84 league goals scored between them.

The two sides also share the weakness in the back, with both having the most goals conceded among the current top six, as they have given up a combined 41 goals. If stats are anything to go by, this fixture should provide plenty of goals with end-to-end excitement.

The biennial CONCACAF Gold Cup returns in 2017, and the continental governing body for the region has announced that the tournament, which runs from July 7-26, will be played out in 13 cities across the United States.

The 14th edition of the tournament will be contested by 12 teams, beginning with the group stage in early July. Of the three groups, we now know that Group B will be headlined by the United States and Group C will have Mexico.