1. Major League Soccer will have a worthy champion
Inter Miami’s 5-1 destruction of NYCFC on Saturday guaranteed that MLS Cup will feature a meeting between top-three seeds for just the third time since 2017. The Vancouver Whitecaps then delivered a convincing performance of their own to book their first MLS Cup appearance. Both clubs have already played in a final this season and needed to win a game on the road to reach MLS Cup.
The Herons have outscored their opponents 22-6 in their six postseason games, netting at least three goals in all but one of them. Vancouver is unbeaten in the playoffs. The one game the Whitecaps were poor statistically – their shootout win over LAFC – was a result of circumstances. They were seconds away from a 2-1 win and ended up playing down two men in extra time. It’s Messi vs. Müller for MLS Cup, and there’s a strong argument that they're leading the league’s best two teams.
2. Arsenal should feel very, very good about where they’re at
In the span of eight days, Arsenal played a North London derby, hosted an undefeated Bayern Munich team in the Champions League and visited Chelsea in a top-of-the-table clash. They scored eight goals and conceded three, winning the first two games before drawing the third. The Gunners have a five-point cushion in the Premier League and are the only remaining Champions League team with a perfect record.
Sunday’s draw with Chelsea was frustrating. They did not dominate the game the way they should playing up a man for more than 50 minutes. However, getting a point at Stamford Bridge is a perfectly fine result. Unlike previous seasons, it is the other title challengers who need to gain ground on Arsenal, and the Gunners have not lost to Chelsea or Manchester City. Mikel Arteta would sign up for seven points from these three games in a heartbeat.
3. Inter Miami are getting contributions from everywhere
Lionel Messi is having the best postseason in MLS history by a mile, but he did not get Inter Miami to MLS Cup on his own. This postseason’s leading goalscorer is Tadeo Allende, not Messi. Mateo Silvetti entered the starting lineup for the suspended Luis Suárez and has five goal involvements in three games. Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have another seven assists between them.
As brilliant as Messi is, he is not going to be a central figure in games for 90 minutes. He will be quiet for a while and then pop up with a moment of brilliance. That reality is what makes players like Allende and Silvetti so important. When they’re helping give Miami early leads – as they have in all three of the team’s elimination games – the Herons are almost impossible to beat. They’ve been much better defensively too. Those are the two biggest reasons why they look like a juggernaut again.
4. Liverpool and Manchester United stopped the bleeding, at least for now
On Monday, Manchester United extended their winless run to three games by losing to Everton after having an opposing player get sent off in the 13th minute for slapping a teammate. On Wednesday, PSV handed Liverpool their ninth defeat in 12 games while becoming the first team to put four past Arne Slot’s men this season. Both clubs traveled to London on Sunday under significant pressure.
Another loss could have put Slot’s job in jeopardy. For United, a second straight defeat would have threatened to undo much of the progress they’ve made. Both teams came away with three points, with the Red Devils coming from behind to defeat Crystal Palace. Liverpool kept a clean sheet away from home for the first time since Sept. 14 (and second time this season). They can both breathe a little easier as they enter a busy month of December.
5. There are some incredible title races going on
Let’s start in Serie A, where a single point separates fourth-place Roma from league leaders AC Milan. Juventus, sitting in seventh place, are only five points behind the Rossoneri. The weekend’s results in Ligue 1 mean that RC Lens are one point ahead of PSG with Marseille just one point behind the reigning champions of Europe. Then there is La Liga, where Barcelona have leapfrogged Real Madrid.
Three consecutive draws by Los Blancos have blown the title race wide open, and there are three teams currently within three points of Barcelona. These title races aren’t just compelling because they’re close; there are at least three teams in each league that should feel like they have a legitimate chance to win. In Italy, the number is at least five. It doesn’t get much better than that.