Hello! An entertaining weekend gives way for a busy week in Europe as the Premier League’s top teams enter the EFL Cup in the third round but first, it’s time to award new winners at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony. I’m Pardeep Cattry with the latest.
📺 Footy fix
All times U.S./Eastern
Monday, Sept. 22
🏆 Ballon d’Or, 2 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇮🇹 Serie A: Napoli vs. Pisa, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
Tuesday, Sept. 23
🏴 EFL Cup: Lincoln City vs. Chelsea, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🏴 EFL Cup: Liverpool vs. Southampton, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇮🇹 Coppa Italia: AC Milan vs. Lecce, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇸 LaLiga: Levante vs. Real Madrid, 3:30 p.m. ➡️ ESPN2
⚽ The Forward Line
🏆 First-timers to win the Ballon d’Or?
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A collection of the game’s best players will coalesce in Paris on Monday for the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, with the chances high that first-time winners will collect soccer’s most prestigious individual prizes.
Ousmane Demelbe is the favorite to win the men’s prize a few short months after Paris Saint-Germain won their first-ever UEFA Champions League title, playing a crucial part in their triumph. Dembele transformed from a supporting character at the sport’s highest levels to a starring role last season at PSG, with manager Luis Enrique moving him from his usual position on the wing to a more central position. The move paid off for a new-look PSG – Dembele scored 35 goals in 53 games across all competitions, a career-best season for him, while collecting the treble.
If there is one realistic challenge for the prize, though, it is likely to be Lamine Yamal. He was a key player in Barcelona’s domestic double last season with 18 goals and 21 assists across all competitions, all before his 18th birthday. His rising profile is obviously good news for Barcelona, who were a surprise contender in Spain and Europe last season despite their financial constraints, but make Yamal a competitor for individual accolades not just in 2025 but for the long-term. His time may not come on Monday, the post-Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo era meaning this award can go to the game’s unsung heroes on the back end of a career-best season like Dembele, but Yamal already seems like a future winner of this award.
If the men’s Ballon d’Or feels competitive, though, brace yourself for the women’s competition. Spain and Barcelona teammates Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati have split the last four editions of this award, generally reserved for players who win major titles either at the club or national team level that year. England beat Spain to win the Women’s Euro in July and a few weeks before that, Arsenal outdid Barcelona in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final, creating a wide-open competition for the Ballon d’Or in the process. Bonmati and Putellas are back on the list of nominees but Alessia Russo and Chloe Kelly lead the pack as the two shortlisted players to win both the Euros and the Champions League. Do not sleep on England and Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze or Spain and Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey, though, each of whom have been name-dropped as potential winners after strong individual seasons.
Make sure to check out the CBS Sports live blog to follow along with all the action, and you can catch the event itself, as well as the preshow on CBS Sports Golazo Network.
Who’s Taking Home the Ballon d’Or 👀
🔗 Midfield Link Play
🏴 Liverpool, Chelsea enter EFL Cup fray
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The quest to win England’s first trophy of the season kicks into high gear on Tuesday with the start of EFL Cup third round action, which will see the Premier League’s most high-profile teams enter the competition.
Liverpool and Chelsea are the first ones up with games against lower league opposition — and on the back of contrasting weeks. The Reds are still perfect to start this season, exchanging the chaos of a 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday for a more straightforward 2-1 victory over Everton in the Merseyside derby on Saturday. Things could be even more routine for Arne Slot’s side against Championship side Southampton in the EFL Cup, which will offer the manager the chance to rotate though his stacked squad. Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz could be in line for starting roles after coming off the bench against Everton over the weekend, while Tuesday’s game could be as good an opportunity as any for either player to notch their first goal or assist with their new club.
Chelsea, meanwhile, travel to League One side Lincoln City in a game that could restore morale after a difficult week. The Blues went winless in three games in the span of a week, most notably losing 3-1 at Bayern Munich in the Champions League and registering a 2-1 defeat at Manchester United after picking up a red card in the fifth minute. Like Slot, manager Enzo Maresca will also have the chance to change things up with his lineup, but will do so without Cole Palmer, who exited the United game in the 21st minute with an injury. Palmer may have earned some rest against Lincoln City regardless but his status is still a little bit of an unknown, adding a wrinkle to Chelsea’s middling start to the season.
- Maresca: “The medical staff, they didn’t mention to me about surgery. I don’t know if in the next days or the next weeks, but I don’t think so, to be honest. He made a huge effort on Saturday to try to play the game. He did the test, he was OK but not 100%. But he wanted to be there to help his team-mates and to be there in that kind of game. Unfortunately, it was painful so we decided to change it. And it’s more day-by-day, week-by-week, game-by-game to see how it is and then decide what we do.”
🔗 Top Stories
🇫🇷 PSG’s nominees: Paris Saint-Germain may have a game around the same time as the Ballon d’Or ceremony, but the injured Ousmane Dembele will be at the awards function and is expected to be joined by a few of his teammates and fellow nominees.
⭐ Yamal’s case: Ousmane Dembele is the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or for the first time but there is a compelling case to be made for Lamine Yamal, who is also in the mix to win the award for the first time on Monday.
🏴 Arsenal, City draw: Arsenal secured a point against Manchester City after going down in the opening 10 minutes of the game, though both Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola took surprisingly conservative approaches to a match that could have delivered more entertainment – and a win for either side.
❌ Premier League sack race: No new managers have been fired just yet in the Premier League but after another troublesome week for a handful of teams, a few coaches are definitely at risk of losing their jobs sooner rather than later.
💰 The Back Line
💵 Best bets
- LaLiga: Levante vs. Real Madrid, Tuesday, 3:30 p.m.
💰 THE PICK: More than 3.5 goals scored (+122) – Xabi Alonso’s version of Real Madrid practices more restraint than previous iterations of the team, winning most of their games by a margin of one or two goals. Tuesday’s trip to Levante might be a little different, though – the hosts have been off to a poor start this season, conceding nine goals in five LaLiga games already. Even for a more pragmatic Real Madrid, Tuesday’s game might be a straightforward opportunity to pad their goal difference, regardless of which of the team’s high-profile attackers end up getting minutes.
For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss out on CBSSports.com’s betting home page.
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