Assuming that there aren’t any more points to be thrown away, and both Arsenal and Chelsea win out — winning their games over United — the season would end in a… Three-way tie.

With the CONCACAF Gold Cup less than eight weeks away, Canadian head coach Stephen Hart was in Toronto on Thursday morning to discuss Canada’s preparation for the tournament as well as its June 1 friendly with Ecuador at BMO Field.

The right opponent, in this case, is Manchester City. But is it the right date? The Whitecaps announced Thursday that it will play Manchester City on Monday, July 18 at Empire Field. It’s part of the World Football Challenge series. But, how will that game stretch coach Teitur Thordarson’s ranks? A high-profile international is a great PR exercise. But, the Whitecaps are scheduled to play at home to the juggernaut that is Real Salt Lake on July 16, and then travel to San Jose on July 20.

MLS confirmed that Manchester United, which thrashed the MLS All-Stars last season, will be back for more. Manchester United will provide the opposition for the All-Stars July 27 at Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, a year after the Red Devils dominated the best in MLS in Houston. But, will the game resonate with Canadian fans? That’s up for debate.

Junior Hoilett is enjoying the best form of his career. The 20-year-old from Brampton scored with a unstoppable thunderbolt of a shot, as Blackburn Roves beat West Bromwich Albion by a 2-0 score.

Junior Hoilett started and was a major factor in Blackburn's 3-1 thrashing of Liverpool at Ewood Park, rewarding manager Steve Kean’s faith in the winger.

There have been more than a few embarrassing moments in the four-plus seasons of Toronto FC’s existence; but the fact that Dwayne De Rosario was training with Celtic —less than a full day after acting GM Earl Cochrane vehemently denied that the team’s all-time leading scorer would be leaving the club —has to go right to the top of the charts when it comes to egg dripping off the faces of those running the Reds. De Rosario checked into Celtic’s training session Tuesday morning, wearing shirt No. 19.

I don’t know of another team that fans the flames of speculation around the club quite like Stoke City. While so many other clubs distance themselves from newspaper reports and blog-fuelled rumours about transfers, Stoke embraces them. This week, the club’s transfer speculation page highlighted a report from the Daily Mail that suggested Stoke could be where American striker Edson …

If, despite Sporting Kansas City’s protests, Stoke City does sign Teal Bunbury after he finishes his week on what the Potters are calling a “trial,” there could be a chance that Canadian soccer fans could forgive the striker. Could is the key word. Is it coincidence that Bunbury received a look-see from Stoke manager Tony Pulis just weeks after he made his debut for the Stars and Stripes — after famously deciding against playing for Canada — in a friendly against South Africa?

While the rotten smell left behind by the voting process for the 2018 and, especially, the 2022 World Cups is still strong in FIFA’s Swiss headquarters, there is one bit of good coming out of the Qatar bid. And that’s the continuing rumblings that the tournament will have to be held in January — to give the players and fans a reprieve from the Qatari summers, where temperatures regularly soar past 40 C. Because, once and for all, it would smash the notion of the “international calendar,” a large truck of snake oil that has been pushed onto the world’s footballing community by rich, European clubs.