Optimistic takes on mine and my friends’ teams, plus choice viewing this weekend

The change of the calendar is upon us and it’s the perfect time to put the past behind us in an effort move forward with renewed confidence and optimism.

In that vein, here are some optimistic takes for 2025 on the clubs and national teams I support, plus a couple my good friends follow.

Let’s start with the club closest in proximity to where we live.

Toronto FC: Staying optimistic hasn’t been easy in the past few months, particularly for season ticket members and supporters’ groups. Optimistic view for the year includes announcing the hiring of a quality manager ahead of January 1, then filling the staring 11 holes (centre back, midfielder, striker) before training camp, showing some consistency enroute to an MLS playoff berth and winning the Canadian Championship. Okay, it’s a lot to ask, but we’re doing the optimism thing today.

Canadian Men’s National Team: Winning their Nations League semi-final against Mexico in March followed by a good showing in the final (maybe even winning it), then making it to at least the Gold Cup semi-finals in the summer tournament as they continue to grow ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Canadian Women’s National Team: No major tournaments on the immediate horizon, however qualifiers for Concacaf events, the Women’s World Cup, and the Olympics begin in 2025 and Team Canada will find their scoring touch to start playing up to their lofty standards. The team furthers distances itself from the drone scandal, which becomes a non-issue as their play on the field improves.

AS Roma: A deep, deep run in the Europa League (yet again) and darting up the standings in Serie A to challenge for one of the European places as Claudio Ranieri’s replacement is chosen, an emphasis on Italian players is renewed, and the future begins to look a little brighter in the spring.

AS Roma Women: With the Champions League unfortunately no longer on the calendar, the Giallorosse go full force to win another Coppa Italia and finish at least second in Serie A to qualify for the continental tournament again.

Italian Men’s National Team: They dispose of the Germans in the Nation League quarterfinals in the spring, then go on to win the tournament in the summer, before finishing atop their World Cup qualifying group in the fall.

Italian Women’s National Team: They finish second in their Women’s Euro 2025 group behind world champion Spain before winning their quarter-final and having a good showing in the semi-finals. Super optimistic would be making the final, but this is just a regular size optimistic take.

Optimistic takes for a few my friends’ teams . . .

Borussia Dortmund: They do what they do best and make an improbable deep run in the Champions League while also finish Top 3 in the Bundesliga to once again find themselves battling Europe’s best in the 2025/2026 season.

Arsenal: A quarter-final appearance in the Champions League and a Top 3 finish in the Premier League is likely on tap for the Gunners. More optimistically, they go on a deeper run in Europe while making Liverpool’s seemingly inevitable Premier League title more difficult to attain, and win either the EFL Cup or FA Cup.

Udinese: The Zebrete are within striking distance of a European place and with nothing else to play for, they’ll nab the last one to play in the Conference League next season.

Chelsea: Finishes a close second to Liverpool in the EPL while making it all the way into the Europa League final before falling to Fiorentina (who wins the trophy on their third straight final appearance).  

Leeds United: Wins the English Football League Championship and the automatic promotion to the Premier League. Makes the semi-finals of the FA Cup and threatens to win it all before falling to a Premier League top side that has nothing else to play for (Man City anyone?).

Tottenham: Judging by how this club does things, the optimistic view would be that they finish one spot outside of the European places in the EPL while making the final of the EFL Cup before losing to their most hated rivals in the final – on penalties. Also, a run into the FA Cup quarters before being eliminated by a League One side.

Most Interesting Upcoming Matches

Looking for an interesting match to watch in the upcoming days that might not include the club you support?

Here are my picks for most interesting matches on the near horizon . . .

Serie A: Lazio vs. Atalanta, December 28 at 2:45 p.m. and Milan vs. AS Roma, December 29 at 2:45 p.m. Both these matches are almost must-wins for all involved in order to keep pace with the top of the table. Atalanta is top of the league for the moment, but are only two points ahead of Napoli, three points in front of Inter Milan, and six ahead of Lazio. Meanwhile, tenth-place Roma is the most desperate for the full three points as they have the most ground to make up with Milan seven points ahead of them in eighth. Streaming on FuboTV Canada.

EPL: West Ham United vs. Liverpool, December 29 at 12:30 p.m. and Man United vs. Newcastle on December 30 at 3 p.m. The post-Boxing Day match-ups seem to be a lot of lower half of the table against the upper half of the table. Both our choice match-ups feature host teams that are under-performing their expectations against visitors who are doing what they were supposed to do and be at or near the top of the Premier League. Should be the two best games in the coming days. Streaming on FuboTV Canada.

La Liga: After a single make-up game on January 3 between Valencia and Real Madrid, the league is fully back in action on January 10, 2025.

Bundesliga: Bundesliga returns to action on January 10, 2025.

Ligue 1: Returns to action on January 3, 2025.

That’s all for this week! Ciao For Now Everyone!

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