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Morning update

MLS Wild Card preview & predictions, Agyemang rising, Pepi scores off bench, & more

ASN's Brian Sciaretta previews and predicts tonight's MLS Wildcard games, and breaks down the Americans involved in the Champions League and Championship games on Tuesday 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
October 22, 2025
10:15 AM

HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO ONE AND ALL, and it has been quite so far as the MLS playoffs open up tonight, the Champions League resumed, and the long Championship season rolled on with a lot of American players.

Here are some thoughts on it all.


MLS Wildcards: Preview & Predictions 

Chicago vs Orlando

 

In the first MLS playoff wild card game, Chicago will host Orlando City in a matchup that few expected. Chicago returns to the post season for the first time since 2017 looking to make their first run in over 15 years. They might pull it off as they are playing great soccer.

From an American perspective, Chicago is led by former USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter who took some time but had the team rolling towards the end with away wins over Minnesota and Inter Miami along with a home win over Columbus down the stretch. There is also midfielder Brian Gutierrez and goalkeeper Chris Brady who have both had USMNT call-ups in 2025 with Brady having a chance at a backup role on the World Cup team.

Of course, Chicago’s run will come down to Philip Zinckernagel. The 30 year old Dane has 15 goals and 15 assists in his first season in the league.

 

Like the current U.S. national team under Mauricio Pochettino, Chicago has switched to a 3-4-3 formation and it has helped  a lot and it has helped fuel the club’s rise.

As for Orlando, Oscar Pareja’s team stumbled down the stretch. Yes, the return of Ducan McGuire helped boost the attack to go along with Martin Ojeda, but defending down the middle has been a huge problem. It is disappointing for Orlando fans who earlier in the season looked as if they would push for a top four finish and the rights for home field advantage for the first two rounds. But now they are not even hosting a wild card game.

It will be fun to watch Alex Freeman in first, and maybe only, MLS playoffs as the U.S. international right back could attract serious offers in 2026.  He has been the top American breakthrough player in MLS this season.

Prediction: Everything right now says Chicago. They’re more in form, they’re hosting, they’re playing better defense, they have more scoring options, and they are healthier. Both teams will get chances, but the ASN prediction is a 4-2 win for the Fire, who then go on to face the Philadelphia Union.

 

Portland vs. Real Salt Lake

 

The Portland Timbers host Real Salt Lake in the second wildcard game tonight. Fans of the U.S. national team and youth national teams will be tuning in to watch USMNT playmaker Diego Luna and U.S. U-20 attacker Zavier Gozo who is coming off a solid performance at the U-20 World Cup.

Portland has won just once in its last 10 games and while Providence Park once was a tough place to play for opposing teams, this current Timbers team doesn’t use that to their advantage as much as in the past.

 

Unlike the East, which will have two good teams in the wildcard, neither of these teams are any good and whoever wins should be an easy out for San Diego. That being said, it will be fun to see Luna be the key playmaker in a postseason game.The 

Prediction: The ASN prediction is that this one will be close but ends regulation 1-1 followed by RSL goalkeeper Rafael Cabral being the difference maker in the shootout to get his team through.

 

The Champions League

 

Pepi & Dest sub into historic PSV win

 

One of the most stunning and surprising wins in the Champions League on Tuesday was PSV’s stunning 6-2 win over Napoli in Eindhoven.

From an American perspective, there was good news and bad news to report from PSV’s two USMNT players in Ricardo Pepi and Sergino Dest.

The bad news is that both American players were on the bench to begin the game. It was expected for Pepi as Guus Til has been in great form. But for Dest, his benching was due to the fact he was late to the stadium.

But both Pepi and Dest came into the game in the 85th minute after PSV had pulled away and was winning 4-1.

The good news is that Pepi scored and assisted on the team’s final two goals. His goal was scored two minutes after coming on and it was his fourth Champions League goal.



He still has work to do in becoming PSV’s starting forwards again, but he is pushing and ready.

Comparing him with Folarin Balogun for the USMNT starting job, it is a different question. Balogun might be playing better and has more USMNT minutes recently, but Pepi might get the nod because he has more tools. Balogun is great at getting behind the defense but Pepi provides a better aerial threat and in creating a shot with defenders still in front of him.

But Pepi should return to the USMNT in November with a huge opportunity to compete with Balogun.

As for Dest, it was just an error on his part. He was punished for a mistake and no one missed him prior to him coming on for the final minutes.

PSV now has four points from three games.

 

Elsewhere in the Champions League

 

On Tuesday, there wasn’t any other news to report.

Malik Tillman is injured and luckily missed Bayer Leverkusen’s 7-2 loss at home to PSG.

Johnny Cardoso is still injured and also was lucky miss his team’s game on Tuesday as Atletico Madrid fell to Arsenal 4-0.

Meanwhile, Cole Campbell wasn’t in the squad for Borussia Dortmund and its 4-2 away win over Copenhagen.

Diego Kochen was an unused backup goalkeeper for Barcelona in a 6-1 win over Olympiacos.

 

Champions League Wednesday

 

Red hot U.S. national team forward Folarin Balogun and AS Monaco host Tottenham needing a win with just one point from two games.

Yunus Musah did not play for Atalanta over the weekend and his role for the club is not clear. Was he being rested or is he simply not in the plans? We will know more as Atalanta host Slavia Prague on Wednesday in Italy.

Weston McKennie should get the chance to start for Juventus in Spain against Real Madrid. It will be a huge game for McKennie after a sharp October with the USMNT.

Tim Weah should get the start for Marseille away at Sporting CP in Lisbon. Marseille is off to a great start in 2025/26 as they are the leaders of Ligue 1 with five straight wins. A win over Sporting would give them six points from three games.

Timothy Chandler hopes to make the bench for Eintracht Frankfurt against Liverpool.

 

The Championship

 

Agyemang classy assist

 

Derby County defeated Norwich 1-0 in a matchup between two lower-third teams who both started forwards who are USMNT World Cup hopefuls.

In this edition, Patrick Agyemang got the better of Josh Sargent as the former Charlotte FC forwards assisted on the only goal. Some assists mean more than others and this was a great one from Agyemang who used his physical strength to his advantage as he fought off a defender to set up David Ozoh.



For Agyemang, he is trending upward big time as Derby need him to pull away from the relegation zone.. They now sit in 18th place with 11 points from 11 games. He still has a tough road to make the USMNT World Cup team, but he is within reach.  

 

Meanwhile, Norwich are terrible and are now in the bottom three. Josh Sargent is ice cold since the September window. His World Cup chances are collapsing. Some understanding is needed as his wife is pregnant and due soon. He didn’t want to switch clubs in the summer, which is understandable given the hassle of moving countries, switching doctors, finding new places to live.

But it seems that absent injuries, the path for Sargent to move past Balogun, Pepi, or Wright is very difficult on the USMNT. Now Agyemang might be ahead of him. It’s tough. He hasn’t scored for the U.S. team since 2019.

The good news for Sargent, is that he will still be under 30 years old come 2030. He is not in a good place, but he still has a future with the team.

 

Elsewhere in the Championship

 

Charlie Kelman hasn’t scored for Charlton yet this season in the Championship, but he continues to play a lot, and the team continues to do well. He played 62 minutes on Tuesday in a 3-0 win over Ipswich to move into fifth place. Last season with Leyton Orient, Kelman won the League One Golden Boot as the top scorer. 

Haji Wright was rested for Coventry on Tuesday and went unused in a 2-1 away win over Portsmouth. It was an ideal result for Coventry which remained atop the Championship table and got to rest their top forward. The Championship season is long at 46 games per team. Any chance to win while resting key players is a huge boost.

Damion Downs played the last 12 minutes for Southampton in a 3-1 loss to Bristol City. Over the summer, Downs made the move from Cologne to Southampton and it has been a disaster. He hoped to be featuring heavily for a promotion contender and instead he is barely playing for a team that is now in 18th place – all while giving up a spot on a newly promoted Bundesliga team.

On Wednesday, Caleb Wiley and Watford host Daryl Dike, George Campbell, and West Brom.

Aidan Morris and second-place Middlesbrough visit last-place Sheffield Wednesday – who will be without suspended Ethan Horvath.

 

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