THE SOCCER REPORT
Chelsea host Manchester United in Carabao Cup; Houston Dynamo, USWNT name new managers
Oct 30, 2019, 6:55 am
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.
It’s official Dynamo fans. Tab Ramos is your new head coach! #ForeverOrange— Houston Dynamo (@Houston Dynamo) 1572022723.0
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.
🇺🇸 Officially Official 🇺🇸 @ussoccer hires Vlatko Andonovski as the new head coach of the #USWNT.— U.S. Soccer WNT (@U.S. Soccer WNT) 1572291965.0
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.
All in for the 🔴, ⚪️ & 🔵❗️ After featuring for the @USYNT at the #U17WC and #U20WC, Sergiño Dest will continue in… https://t.co/ReA0CQzNY8— U.S. Soccer MNT (@U.S. Soccer MNT) 1572276042.0
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)
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 tiedFrench Ligue 1
Top six: PSG (27), Nantes (19), Lille (18), Reims (18), Brest (17), Angers (17)
Scoring leader: 9 - Wissam Ben Yedder (Monaco)
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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Coming off a dominant offensive performance, the Houston Astros return to the field Wednesday night looking to keep their momentum rolling against the Athletics. Cam Smith’s four-hit breakout powered a 13-3 rout on Tuesday, and now the Astros aim to take control of the series in Game 3 of the four-game set.
Houston, sitting atop the AL West at 42-31, will send left-hander Framber Valdez to the mound. Valdez has been in strong form all season, posting a 7-4 record with a 3.10 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 2025. He’ll be looking to build on Houston’s recent pitching success. The Astros have held opponents to a 2.60 ERA over their last 10 games while going 7-3 in that span and outscoring opponents by 24 runs.
The A’s will counter with veteran right-hander Luis Severino, who enters with a 2-6 record and a 4.47 ERA. While his season has been inconsistent, Severino still has the ability to miss bats and will look to keep an Astros lineup in check that’s hitting .271 over its last 10 contests.
The Athletics come in at 30-45 overall and 13-24 at home, and though they've dropped three of four to the Astros this season, the power potential is always there. The A’s have launched 92 home runs so far — seventh-most in the majors — with Tyler Soderstrom and Max Muncy continuing to anchor the offense. Soderstrom has already racked up 14 homers and 45 RBIs on the year, while Muncy has gone deep three times over his last 10 games.
Houston’s offense has been steadily rising, fueled by key performances from both veterans and emerging talent. Jeremy Peña continues to provide steady production with 15 doubles and nine homers on the year, while rookie Cam Smith has caught fire, going 14-for-40 with four doubles and two homers in his last 10 games.
The Astros are 33-13 this season when they out-hit their opponent, and they’ll look to follow that blueprint again Wednesday. First pitch is set for 10:05 p.m. EDT in West Sacramento, with Houston holding a 3-1 edge in the season series.
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -162, Athletics +136; over/under is 9 runs
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