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Minnesota United vs. Sporting Kansas City | 2017 MLS Match Preview

Minnesota United vs. Sporting Kansas City
2017 MLS Regular Season
TCF Bank Stadium – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sunday, May 7 | 1:30 pm ET
WATCH: FS1 and Fox Deportes in the US; MLS LIVE in Canada

Is there a new MLS rivalry brewing along Interstate 35? Perhaps, but better to leave those details to the fans and players who'll take part in the first-ever (and subsequent) matches between Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City, two clubs connected by their Midwestern roots and proximity to the asphalt artery that runs north-south between the two up-and-coming cities.

For now, Minnesota looks south with envy at a Sporting KC team sitting atop the Western Conference standings and boasting the stingiest defense in MLS. Sporting KC, meanwhile, sees opportunity in their trip to the Twin Cities. There are points to be had at TCF Bank Stadium, as San Jose proved last week, while the Loons figure out their identity following a rough start.

Minnesota United

First, they were terrible. Then, they were sorta good. Now, Minnesota are somewhere in between, no longer a defensive dumpster fire but also trying to rediscover the attacking punch that made them fun to watch.

Sporting KC will be a real test for Adrian Heath's men, and the Loons manager is intimately familiar with what striker Dom Dwyer can do to a backline considering the Englishmen hooked up to help Orlando win a USL title years ago now. Can Francisco Calvo and Brent Kallman keep Benny Feilhaber and Dwyer, who has three goals in his last two games, from running rampant? It's a tall task, but if they're going to grab a result at home, it's basically a requirement because...

Ike Opara, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic and Graham Zusi won't allow the likes of Kevin Molino, Miguel Ibarra, Johan Venegas and Christian Ramirez any room to breath. Sporting have allowed three goals in nine games, and it will take some inspired play in the final third for Minnesota to add to that total.

• Suspensions: None
• Int’l Duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT – M - Bernardo Anor (left lower leg injury); QUESTIONABLE – M - Rasmus Schuller (hip injury)

Projected starting lineup (4-2-3-1): Bobby Shuttleworth (GK) – Marc Burch, Francisco Calvo, Brent Kallman, Jerome Thiesson – Sam Cronin, Ibson – Kevin Molino, Johan Venegas, Miguel Ibarra – Christian Ramirez

Notes: Kevin Molino has attempted 38 dribbles so far this season, the third-most in the league. He has been successful on just 26.3 percent of those attempts however, the fourth-worst of any player with at least 20 dribbles attempted.

Sporting Kansas City

Are Sporting the best team in MLS? They've certainly made a case for themselves through nine matches, allowing just three goals and losing only once.

The attack was a question mark at first, with Dwyer struggling to score and Feilhaber returning from injury. But they've won 3-0 and 2-0 in the past week to assuage any doubts. It's not perfect on that front, however, as Peter Vermes is still looking for more goal-dangerous moments from his wingers.

In the back, their pace is historic and should come as no surprise. Opara and Besler are one of, if not the, best center-back tandems in MLS, Sinovic has been doing the solid-but-unspectacular thing for years and the Zusi-to-RB experiment isn't even a topic of conversation anymore (it worked).

The big question for Vermes is whether to rotate his squad after a midweek win at home. If he does, will Sporting get enough from their depth to grab a valuable road result?

• Suspensions: None
• Int’l Duty: None
• Injury Report: OUT – F Diego Rubio (torn ACL)

Projected starting lineup 4-3-3): GK: Tim Melia – Graham Zusi, Ike Opara, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic – Ilie, Roger Espinoza, Benny Feilhaber – Gerso, Dom Dwyer, Jimmy Medranda

Notes: Ike Opara has played 720 minutes so far this season, more than he played in the 2014 and 2015 regular seasons combined (1,542 minutes in 2016).

All-Time Series

This is the first-ever MLS match between Minnesota United and Sporting Kansas City.

Referees

Referee: Alan Kelly
Assistant Referees: Apolinar Mariscal, Kermit Quisenberry
Fourth Official: Hilario Grajeda

Houston Dynamo 4, Orlando City SC 0 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Something has to give when an explosive attack meets a stingy defense. On Saturday in Houston, it was the offensive team that won. By a large margin, too.

The Houston Dynamo routed Orlando City at home on Saturday night, posting an impressive 4-0 victory at BBVA Compass Stadium. Mauro Manotas led the way for the Dynamo with a brace and an assist, but the winner came from Alberth Elis in the first half. The Dynamo's other goal-scorer was Romell Quioto.

Orlando were down just one goal at halftime, but gave up three on the counter in the second half while chasing the game.

Goals

• 23' – HOU – Alberth Elis
• 51' – HOU – Mauro Manotas
• 65' – HOU – Mauro Manotas
• 75' – HOU – Romell Quioto

Next Up

• HOU: Friday, May 12 – vs. Vancouver Whitecaps (9 pm ET | TSN1; MLS LIVE in the US)
• ORL: Saturday, May 13 – vs. Sporting Kansas City (7 pm ET | MLS LIVE)

Columbus Crew SC 2, New England Revolution 0 | 2017 MLS Match Recap

Columbus Crew SC snapped a two-match losing streak on Saturday night, beating the New England Revolution 2-0 behind goals from Ola Kamara and Federico Higuain.

New England's winless streak reached five matches with the loss, and the Revs are still looking for their first road victory of 2017.

Kamara found the net for the third straight time at home, putting Crew SC up 1-0 in the 13th minute when he ran onto a through ball from Justin Meram, worked into space in the area and curled a high shot inside the far post. 

In the 53rd, it was Kamara's turn to play set-up man. He took a long pass from Higuain, waited for the playmaker to catch up, then cut the ball back to him for a finish high in the center of the goal.

Crew SC manager Gregg Berhalter was sent off in the second half, for arguing that a clothesline foul by New England's Je-Vaughn Watson (WATCH) should have received more than a yellow card.

Goals

• 13' - CLB - Ola Kamara (WATCH)
• 53' - CLB - Federico Higuain (WATCH)

Three Things

1. FASTER TO FIVE: Crew SC recorded their fifth victory of the year on Saturday night, reaching that mark in their ninth match. Last season, it took them until Aug. 27 – their 25th match of that season – to reach that mark, tumbling from their runner-up finish in the 2015 MLS Cup final.
2. NO KAMARA DERBY: New England forward Kei Kamara missed his second straight match for (growing) family reasons, staying home because he and his wife are still awaiting the birth of their second child. Kamara also missed last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Seattle.
3. STILL WAITING FOR 40/40: Several outlets reported that Higuain had been awarded a secondary assist on Ola Kamara’s 13th-minute goal, which would have made him the third member of Columbus’ 40-goal/40-assist club. However, Higuain, who has 42 goals with Crew SC after his second-half strike on Saturday, still needs one more assist to join Brian McBride and Jeff Cunningham on the 40/40 list.

Rennes vs Montpellier: Preview and Predictions

Rennes vs Montpellier
France Ligue 1
Date: Sunday, 7th May, 2017
Kick off at 14:00 UK Time
Venue: Roazhon Park, Rennes.

Rennes’ form has really dropped off since the realisation came in that they cannot qualify for a European place and of course they have been safe in the league for some time. So they don’t have much to play for in the next few weeks.

A draw to St Etienne and a loss to Bastia has not helped their cause in recent weeks. However Rennes are unbeaten at home for the past four months and have remained difficult to beat.

Montpellier look safe as they are six points from the relegation zone but they have lost their last 2 games. One over PSG was expected but a 3-0 loss at home to Lille wasn’t. There is still a cloud over the team as everyone would like to see another win just to confirm safety.

The club have only 2 wins away from home all season but the good news is that these wins have come in the last five matches.

Rennes vs Montpellier: Head to Head Stats

The last 4 games have seen under 2.5 goals. Three of the last 4 games has had the correct score of 0-0 at half time. Of the 9 games played here since the turn of the century Rennes has 5 wins.

Rennes vs Montpellier: Prediction

This could be a very relaxed game where sometimes we can get goals if the two teams have some energy and enthusiasm. There isn’t too much to be played out here and we should look into the goal scorers market. We do expect to see goals in this game even though recent matches have had a lack of them.

Benfica figura entre os 100 clubes mais estáveis da Europa

Um estudo elaborado pelo Observatório do Futebol revela que o Benfica é o único clube português a figurar no 'ranking' dos 100 clubes mais estáveis do futebol europeu.

Esta classificação é calculada através do número de épocas que cada jogador, em média, permanece no plantel principal de cada clube.

O Benfica surge em 29.º lugar, em igualdade pontual com o Bournemouth e o Chievo, numa lista que é liderada pelo CSKA de Moscovo.

Shakhtar Donetsk, de Paulo Fonseca, e Real Madrid completam o pódio.

Ranking das equipas mais estáveis da Europa:

1. CSKA Moscovo (Rússia) 6,37
2. Shakhtar Donetsk (Ucrânia) 5,59
3. Real Madrid (Espanha) 4,84
4. Jonkopings Sodra (Suécia) 4,82
Barcelona (Espanha) 4,82
6. Bayern Munique (Alemanha) 4,59
7. Mattersburg (Áustria) 4,35
8. Real Sociedad (Espanha) 4,21
9. Atlético Bilbau (Espanha)
10. Juventus (Itália) 3,90
...
29. Benfica (Portugal), Bournemouth (Inglaterra) e Chievo (Itália) 3,28

PRIMEIRA LIGA DE PORTUGAL

Liga NOS (2016-2017)

Jogos| Calendário| Classificação| Equipas | Estatísticas|

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Resultados

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 Jornada 1 Jornada 2 Jornada 3 Jornada 4 Jornada 5 Jornada 6 Jornada 7 Jornada 8 Jornada 9 Jornada 10 Jornada 11 Jornada 12 Jornada 13 Jornada 14 Jornada 15 Jornada 16 Jornada 17 Jornada 18 Jornada 19 Jornada 20 Jornada 21 Jornada 22 Jornada 23 Jornada 24 Jornada 25 Jornada 26 Jornada 27 Jornada 28 Jornada 29 Jornada 30 Jornada 31 Jornada 32 Jornada 33 Jornada 34 

32ª Jornada

Data	Hora	Visitado		Visitante
05-05-2017	20:30	Moreirense	2 - 1	Sp. Braga
06-05-2017	16:00	Boavista	2 - 2	Nacional
06-05-2017	18:15	Paços Ferreira	0 - 1	Feirense
06-05-2017	20:30	Marítimo	1 - 1	FC Porto
07-05-2017	11:45	Sporting	-	Belenenses
07-05-2017	16:00	Tondela	-	V. Setúbal
07-05-2017	18:00	V. Guimarães	-	Arouca
07-05-2017	20:15	Rio Ave	-	Benfica
08-05-2017	20:00	Estoril	-	Desp. Chaves

Classificação

	Equipa	J	V	E	D	GM	GS	DG	P	DP
1	Benfica	31	23	6	2	64	16	48	75	0
2	FC Porto	32	21	10	1	66	15	51	73	2
3	Sporting	31	20	7	4	62	30	32	67	6
4	V. Guimarães	31	17	8	6	49	33	16	59	8
5	Sp. Braga	32	14	9	9	47	34	13	51	8
6	Marítimo	32	13	9	10	33	31	2	48	3
7	Rio Ave	31	13	6	12	37	36	1	45	3
8	Feirense	32	12	6	14	28	44	-16	42	3
9	Boavista	32	9	12	11	30	34	-4	39	3
10	Desp. Chaves	31	8	13	10	31	34	-3	37	2
11	V. Setúbal	31	9	8	14	27	35	-8	35	2
12	Paços Ferreira	32	8	11	13	31	41	-10	35	0
13	Belenenses	31	8	8	15	23	41	-18	32	3
14	Arouca	31	9	5	17	30	50	-20	32	0
15	Estoril	31	8	7	16	29	38	-9	31	1
16	Moreirense	32	7	8	17	29	46	-17	29	2
17	Tondela	31	5	8	18	23	50	-27	23	6
18	Nacional	32	4	9	19	21	52	-31	21	2

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