Welcome to May! I’m Mike Goodman, bringing you your Golazo Starting XI Newsletter as the calendar turns. Today we have Napoli not winning a title and the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League being completed. Let’s get down to business
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📺 Footy fix
All times US/East.
Monday May 1
🇪🇺 UWCL: Arsenal vs. Wolfsburg, 12:45 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network
EPL: Leicester vs. Everton, 3pm ➡️ USA Network
🇧🇷 Brazilian: Vasco da Gama vs. Bahia, 7 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network
Tuesday May 2
EPL: Arsenal v. Chelsea, 3 p.m. ➡️ USA Network
🇪🇸 La Liga: Barcelona vs. Osasuna, 1:303 pm ➡️ ESPN+
🇺🇸 Concacaf Nations League: LAFC vs. Philadelphia Union, 10 p.m. ➡️ FS1
Scudetto delayed to Naples
Getty Images
The city of Naples will have to wait at least a few more days before exploding with joy. Everything was ready for a party on Sunday. Vesuvius was closed. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued a travel warning. The game was moved from Saturday to Sunday so all of Naples could wait for their team to win and then erupt (Vesuvius pun 100% intended) in celebration. This was the time. The football gods, or Salernitana journeyman Boulaye Dia to be precise, were not cooperating.
A late equalizer gave Salernitana a 1-1 draw in Naples, meaning the Scudetto is likely to be won away from home this week with Udinese on tap Thursday. And you’d be forgiven for thinking that perhaps Napoli suffocated the first of their many chances to clinch the crown. While Salernitana aren’t exactly relegation fodder, they are currently in 14th place with 34 points and have not lost since February.
But to be honest, Napoli didn’t really have a problem with Salernitana. They dominated the game. They had a whopping 73% possession. They took 24 shots to Salernitana’s five. The expected goal count (xG) was 1.65 to 0.28 for the underdogs. So even though it took 62 minutes for the original breakthrough to come, it never looked very likely to happen. Napoli dominated the game and was ahead by a goal, and the party had only just begun.
But some days fate intervenes. Don’t take anything away from Dia, that one hit the unlikely curling iron that delayed the inevitable. Beating his man on the right flank, he struck a remarkable curling effort from the side of the box around a massive Napoli defence, sending it perfectly into the far corner. This is a player who has scored double-digit goals just twice in his career and has bounced from Reims to Villarreal to Salernitana. In general he has been quite unremarkable. If he’s going to do that, it’s usually just a sure sign that it’s not your day.
Napoli’s day will come – whether it’s Thursday or this weekend or next week. The Scudetto is theirs. And when it does, the celebrations in Naples will be a sight to behold (although perhaps best to watch from a safe distance), but on Sunday I was reminded how fickle the football gods can be and how great an achievement winning a Scudetto will be for Napoli. Winning a championship is about being the best team, but it’s not just about being the best team. Napoli have dominated all season, but fate has demanded that they have to wait a little longer.
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Arsenal look set to join Barcelona in the UWCL final
Barcelona passed Chelsea on Friday to reach the UWCL final for the third consecutive season. On Monday, Arsenal look to join them when they host Wolfsburg on CBS Sports Golazo Network (12:45 p.m. ET). The enthralling first leg of this match saw Wolfsburg get up early and largely dominate the match. Arsenal found a way to fight back behind goals from Rafaelle and Stina Blackstinius.
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Can Arsenal finish the job when they get home? Well, they’ll be playing to a sold-out crowd at the Emirates, and that’s a big deal. Here’s Sandra Herrera break it all down for you.
- herrera: “The group will continue to rely on the attacking form of Stina Blackstenius and the physicality of Katie McCabe, but they will also receive an additional boost from the stadium environment. The club has announced a sell-out of the Emirates Stadium with an expected capacity.”
Remember you can watch the game in its entirety with pre-game analysis and post-game coverage on CBS Sports Golazo Network. And don’t forget, the network is also your home for coverage of the June 3 finale.
And now let’s go to some links:
🔗 More from Francesco Porzio op Napoli draws against Salernitana.
🔗 Manchester City are now at the top of the Premier League after grinding out a result against Fulham.
🔗 Liverpool blew a three-goal lead and still won against Tottenham.
🔗 Jurgen Klopp pulled his hamstring celebrating the wild, last-minute go-ahead goal.
🔗 After a dramatic draw against Roma, Francesco Porzio breaks down Ismael Bennacer’s new role.
🔗 On the female side, AS Roma has won the Serie A title for the first time.
🔗 Keeper of Thorns Bella Bixby scored a back-heel equalizer in stoppage time against Angel City. You read that correctly.
🔗 Leeds unravels and the Morning Footy crew talks about what went wrong.
🔗 Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Milan contract will expire soon and Susannah Collins thinks he would be a good fit for Wrexham.
🔗 Felipe Cárdenas believes change is needed for Sporting KC after hitting rock bottom following a home loss to Montreal.
🔗 House of Champions: Fabrizio Romano joins the show to discuss everything about transfers.
🔗 Third Strike: It’s NWSL Weekend Recap, after a wild weekend of matches.
🔗 And don’t forget, all your football needs – from NWSL to Champions League to Serie A and much more – are available on Paramount+. 📺 You can try one month for free by using the code: EUROPE.
💵 Best bets
All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook and all times US/Eastern. SportsLine has you covered with your best bets.
- EPL: Leicester vs. Everton, Monday, 3pm
💰 THE CHOICE: Leicester (-107) — As the relegation battle approaches the bitter end of the season, some teams are rising to the challenge and others are not. Leicester City have a win and a draw in their last two games, which doesn’t seem like much until you consider that Leeds and their Monday opponents Everton – who are also battling for survival – have combined two points over each of their past five games. Leicester will continue the march to safety on Monday. - EPL: Arsenal v. Chelsea, Tuesday 3 p.m
💰 THE CHOICE: Arsenal (-155) — Of course things are going badly in the world of Arsenal, but nothing is as good as playing against Chelsea these days. They have lost five in a row in all competitions, and six out of seven. They have not won any of their last eight. Together they have scored exactly one goal in the last seven and they have won exactly three Premier League games this calendar year. It’s May.