I was working on a quick NWSL preview to put at the start of this newsletter, but the "quick" preview was 3000 words as I was just over half-done, so expect that next week as its own thing, hey? In the meantime, a huge week of international matches
football
Three international competitions are getting going, with a fourth later in the month: one small and easy to watch, one medium-sized and a little more difficult and one sprawling and difficult.
The NWSL is starting up in less than a month, so my next couple essays here, if I can, will be about women's soccer in the US, and its relationship to global women's football. First up, the second half of my analysis of the next potential
NWSL
A very quiet week in Europe, with no superclub versus superclub matches, but it's a calm before the storm with the Champions League second legs coming up in midweek. Still, that gives a chance for the top match of the week to be in Mexico!
football
Everything has gone right for Manchester City since the start of the year. The one fly in the ointment: Arsenal.
In the first three newsletters here we examined the structure of European women's football, primarily through the lens of the superclub, both the stable ones (Barca, Lyon, Man U, Man City, Arsenal, and Chelsea) and the less so (Bayern, Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, and PSG in Europe; Kansas City,
football
We have seven matches to recommend this week, including Manchester City-Chelsea (Sun 9:30am EST, ESPN+/Youtube) in the WSL and Arsenal-Corinthians (Sun 1pm EST, DAZN) in the FIFA Champions Cup final.
soccer
Chelsea take on Arsenal (Sat 7:30am EST, ESPN+/Youtube) in the London derby of superclubs, with both sides desperate for a win to remain in the hunt for the title
football
MATCH OF THE WEEK In France, the Paris FC take on league leaders Lyon (Sun 7am EST, DAZN).