THE SOCCER REPORT

Chelsea host Manchester United in Carabao Cup; Houston Dynamo, USWNT name new managers

Chelsea host Manchester United in Carabao Cup; Houston Dynamo, USWNT name new managers
Christian Pulisic became the second American to score a hat-trick in the Premier League after doing so for Chelsea aginst Burnley. Photo: Getty Images

The Houston Dynamo officially announced the appointment of former U.S. Men's National Team midfielder Tab Ramos as the club's new Head Coach last Friday. Ramos arrived in the Bayou City on Monday and has begun to plan for the 2020 Major League Soccer season.

The Dynamo were not the only ones with a new manager as the U.S. Women's National Team announced the appointment of two-time NWSL Championship winning coach Vlatko Andonovski. The 2019 NWSL Coach of the Year takes over for Jill Ellis, who took the USWNT to back-to-back FIFA Women's World Cup titles.

The U.S. Men also had positive news of their own to share. Sergiño Dest, the 18-year-old Ajax defender, revealed his intent to play for the United States over the Netherlands. Dest had played with the USMNT earlier this year but is yet to be permamently tied through an appearance in an official encounter. Dest also played with the youth national teams of Team USA, including under Ramos at the 2019 U-20 FIFA World Cup.

Here is the rest of the soccer ongoings from the past week:

Major League Soccer

The MLS Cup Playoffs have one finalist decided after Seattle Sounders upset LAFC on Tuesday night. Seattle will play for the championship at Atlanta or will host Toronto, depending on the results of Wednesday night's match.

Conference semifinals results

  • New York City FC 1-2 Toronto FC
  • Atlanta United 2-0 Philadelphia Union
  • Los Angeles FC 5-3 LA Galaxy
  • Seattle Sounders 2-0 Real Salt Lake
Conference finals results
  • Los Angeles FC 1-3 Seattle Sounders
  • Atlanta United vs. Toronto [to be played Wednesday]
MLS Cup Final - November 10th 2:00 p.m. CT

National Women's Soccer League

The 2019 NWSL season came to an end as the North Carolina Courage succesfully defended their title with a 4-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars.

English Premier League

After weeks of concern from U.S. Men's National Team fans over the playing time of Christian Pulisic, the 21-year-old American prodigy scored his first goal for Chelsea F.C. - delivering three in the process. Pulisic became the second U.S. player with a hat-trick in the EPL and the first since Clint Dempsey.

The Premier League resumes this coming weekend but first, English clubs are taking part in the League Cup - known also as the Carabao Cup - during the midweek slate.

Top six: Liverpool (28), Man City (22), Leicester City (20), Chelsea (20), Arsenal (16), Crystal Palace (15)

Scoring leader: 9 - Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)

Assists leader: 9 - Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

Spanish La Liga

Updated through October 29 matches

Top six: Barcelona (22), Granada (20), Atletico Madrid (20), Real Sociedad (19), Sevilla (19), Real Madrid (18)

Scoring leader: 7 - Gerard Moreno (Villareal) / Lorenzo Garica (Real Betis)

Assists leader: 4 - Leo Messi (Barcelona) / Santi Cazorla (Villareal)

German Bundesliga

Top six: Monchengladbach (19), Bayern Munich (18), Freiburg (17), Wolfsburg (17), Dortmund (16), RB Leipzig (15)

Scoring leader: 13 - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

Assists leader: 5 - Jadon Sancho (Dortmund) / Thorgan Hazard (Dortmund)

Italian Serie A

Top six: Inter Milan (25), Juventus (23), Atalanta (20), Napoli (17), Roma (16), Lazio (15)

Scoring leader: 10 - Ciro Immobile (Lazio)

Assists leader: 5 - Four players tied

French Ligue 1

Top six: PSG (27), Nantes (19), Lille (18), Reims (18), Brest (17), Angers (17)

Scoring leader: 9 - Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco)

Assists leader: 6 - Islam Slimani (Monaco) / Yoann Court (Brest)

TV listings (All Times CT):

Wednesday, October 23

1:00 p.m. - [Serie A] Napoli vs. Atalanta (ESPN+)

1:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Valencia vs. Sevilla (beIN Sports)

2:30 p.m. - [English League Cup] Liverpool vs. Arsenal (ESPN+)

2:45 p.m. - [English League Cup] Aston Villa vs. Wolves (ESPN+)

2:45 p.m. - [German Cup] Dortmund vs. Gladbach (ESPN3)

2:45 p.m. - [German Cup] St Pauli vs. Frankfurt (ESPN3)

3:00 p.m. - [Serie A] Juventus vs. Genoa (ESPN+)

3:00 p.m. - [Serie A] Udinese vs. Roma (ESPN+)

3:00 p.m. - [English League Cup] Chelsea vs. Man United (ESPN+)

3:00 p.m. - [La Liga] Real Madrid vs. Leganes (beIN SPORTS)

7:00 p.m. - [MLS Cup Playoffs] Atlanta United FC vs. Toronto FC (FS1, FOX Deportes)

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Kyle Tucker returns to Houston this weekend. Composite Getty Image.

Two first-place teams, identical records, and a weekend set with serious measuring-stick energy.

The Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs open a three-game series Friday night at Daikin Park, in what could quietly be one of the more telling matchups of the summer. Both teams enter at 48-33, each atop their respective divisions — but trending in slightly different directions.

The Astros have been red-hot, going 7-3 over their last 10 while outscoring opponents by 11 runs. They've done it behind one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, with a collective 3.41 ERA that ranks second in the American League. Houston has also been dominant at home, where they’ve compiled a 30-13 record — a stat that looms large heading into this weekend.

On the other side, the Cubs have held their ground in the NL Central but have shown some recent shakiness. They're 5-5 over their last 10 games and have given up 5.66 runs per game over that stretch. Still, the offense remains dangerous, ranking fifth in on-base percentage across the majors. Kyle Tucker leads the way with a .287 average, 16 homers, and 49 RBIs, while Michael Busch has been hot of late, collecting 12 hits in his last 37 at-bats.

Friday’s pitching matchup features Houston’s Brandon Walter (0-1, 3.80 ERA, 1.10 WHIP) and Chicago’s Cade Horton (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 1.29 WHIP), a promising young arm making one of his biggest starts of the season on the road. Horton will have his hands full with Isaac Paredes, who’s slugged 16 homers on the year, and Mauricio Dubón, who’s found a groove with four home runs over his last 10 games.

It’s the first meeting of the season between these two clubs — and if the trends continue, it may not be the last time they cross paths when it really counts.

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -112, Cubs -107; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

Here's a preview of Joe Espada's Game 1 lineup.

The first thing that stands out is rookie Cam Smith is hitting cleanup, followed by Jake Meyers. Victor Caratini is the DH and is hitting sixth. Christian Walker is all the way down at seventh, followed by Yainer Diaz, and Taylor Trammell who is playing left field.

How the mighty have fallen.

Pretty wild to see Walker and Diaz hitting this low in the lineup. However, it's justified, based on performance. Walker is hitting a pathetic .214 and Diaz is slightly better sporting a .238 batting average.

Screenshot via: MLB.com



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