Soccer Update

We have some drama left in the 2025-26 European soccer season.

Arsenal, seeking its first league title since the 2003-04 season, has led the English Premier League almost the entire year.  But today, Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-1 at Manchester City, and now the top of the EPL looks like this:

1.  Arsenal:  21-5-7 (70 points) (goal differential of 37)

2.  Man City:  20-5-7 (67) (goal differential of 36)

If Man City wins at Burnley on Wednesday, the Sky Blues will take over first place.  And they will be very tough to catch after that.  Still, the title is very much up for grabs.  The British oddsmakers have Man City favored to win the league at odds of 4 to 6, while you can get Arsenal at 6 to 5.

Manchester City is also favored to win the F.A. Cup.  Next weekend, they will play the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, and here are the matchups:

4/25/26:  Manchester City v. Southampton

4/26/26:  Chelsea v. Leeds United

Here are the odds to win the cup:

Man City:  1 to 2

Chelsea:  11 to 4

Leeds:  9 to 1

Southampton:  20 to 1

On the other hand, Manchester City is out of the Champions' League -- they were beaten by Real Madrid in the Round of 16.  The Champions' League is also down to the semi-finals, and those matchups look like this:

Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) v. Bayern Munich (GER)

Atletico Madrid (ESP) v. Arsenal (ENG)

These semi-finals will be two-legged matches played on April 28-29 and May 5-6.  Here are the odds to win the Champions League.  As you can see, it's very much up for grabs as we await the final in Budapest on May 30:

Bayern Munich:  7 to 4

Arsenal:  9 to 4

PSG:  5 to 2

Atletico Madrid:  7 to 1

And finally, we have a thriller in the Scottish Premier League.  With only five games left in the season, Heart of Midlothian is still trying to become the first club outside of Celtic and Rangers to win the Scottish League since 1985.  Here are the standings:

Heart of Midlothian:  21-5-7 (70 points)

Rangers:  19-2-12 (69)

Celtic:  21-8-4 (67)

Here are the odds, with the smart money being put on Rangers:

Rangers:  21 to 20

Celtic:  2 to 1

Hearts:  13 to 5

So there's a lot to play for over the next month and a half -- and then we get the 2026 World Cup, which begins on June 11.  Here are the current favorites to lift the trophy in East Rutherford, N.J. on July 19:

Spain:  +450

France:  +550

England:  +650

Argentina:  +800

Brazil:  +800

Portugal:  +1000

Germany:  +1400

Anyway, if you have any interest in soccer, you should be tuning in from now through the end of the World Cup -- this is all about as good as it gets.