Lion Links: 9/2/25

Good morning, everyone. I hope you enjoyed the holiday weekend and had a restful day on Monday if you were lucky enough to have the day off. Despite Orlando City and Orlando City B both being out of action this weekend, we still have a busy schedule ahead of us, as the Orlando Pride play tonight and Sunday, and the United States Men’s National Team will take on South Korea on Saturday. That means we have plenty to discuss, so let’s get to this morning’s links.

Previewing LD Alajuelense

The Orlando Pride kick off their first-ever Concacaf W Champions Cup journey this evening when they take on LD Alajuelense at home. Las Leonas were founded back in 2019 and have emerged as the team to beat in Costa Rica. They’re the only team in the Costa Rican Women’s Premier Division to win two undefeated titles back-to-back and are the sixth-ranked team in Concacaf. They were the only team from Central America to pick up a win in last year’s competition, and they opened this edition of the tournament by playing Club America to a scoreless draw at home.

MLS Matchday 31 Lessons

The latest round of MLS games has been completed, which means there are plenty of lessons to be taken away from the action. First and foremost, Chucky Lozano and Anders Dreyer turned up in a big way for San Diego FC’s 2-1 win over LAFC, as they each scored a goal in the victory. The Philadelphia Union also inched a little closer to the Supporters’ Shield by knocking off FC Cincinnati 1-0. They’ve put together an extremely impressive season after missing the playoffs last year and hiring a new coach in the off-season, while also sending star man Daniel Gazdag to the Columbus Crew. The San Jose Earthquakes, however, were plagued by some familiar defensive issues in a 3-1 loss to an Austin FC side that it is directly competing with for a playoff place.

Deadline Day Roundup

The majority of European leagues saw their transfer windows close Monday night, so let’s catch up on the flurry of action. The headline move saw Alexander Isak head from Liverpool to Newcastle in a British-record deal worth $170 million. Nicolas Jackson moved on loan to Bayern Munich from Chelsea in a season-long move that contains an obligation for the German club to buy him next summer. United States midfielder Yunus Musah joined Atalanta on loan from AC Milan in a deal that contains an option to make the deal permanent. Jadon Sancho has reportedly moved to Aston Villa on loan from Manchester United. Manchester City has reportedly agreed to deals to sell Ederson to Fenerbahce and sign Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain.

Erik ten Hag Fired Early in Season

Bayer Leverkusen has fired Erik ten Hag, in what has to be one of the earliest cases of a team parting with a new manager. Ten Hag had only been in charge of three competitive matches, with Leverkusen winning its DFB Pokal game against lower league side Sonnenhof Grossaspach, but dropping points in each of its two Bundesliga tilts. The German outfit lost 2-1 to Hoffenheim in the first game of the season and looked to be heading for a win against Werder Bremen on Saturday. Leverkusen was up 3-1 and up a man in the 64th minute after Niklas Stark was sent off, but Bremen earned a last-gasp draw with a 94th-minute equalizer, and that was all she wrote for the Dutchman. Replacing Xabi Alonso was never going to be easy, but players reportedly didn’t take well to ten Hag’s conservative style of play, and club leadership felt it important to make a change sooner rather than later.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City dropped one spot to no.10 in ESPN.com’s MLS power rankings.
• Premier League teams spent a record amount of money in the summer transfer window.
• There are a number of player who are still free agents after the close of the window, and here are some who could feasibly be picked up.
• Check out the grades for some of the summer’s biggest transfer deals.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!