Soccer Odds – Messi, Lloyd are Player of the Year Faves

It’s time for FIFA to name the best players and managers of 2015 as it gets set to hand out the 2015 Ballon d’Or, Women’s World Player of the Year, and World Coach of the Year trophies.

Two familiar faces, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, will be back in Switzerland for the annual awards presentation as both were named to the three-man shortlist (along with Messi’s Barcelona teammate Neymar). Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have won the last seven trophies.

Two titans of the soccer world will be duking it out for Coach of the Year, as well, as Luis Enrique (Barcelona) and Pep Guardiola (Bayern Munich) were put on the shortlist alongside Chilean national team manager Jorge Sampaoli.

We’re sure to see a first-time winner on the women’s side, as none of the three finalists – Carli Lloyd (USA), Aya Miyama (Japan), or Celia Sasic (Germany) – have won before.

Let’s set the odds for each award:

Odds to win the 2015 Ballon d’Or

Lionel Messi: 1/9 (Barcelona/Argentina)

Neymar: 10/1 (Barcelona/Brazil)

Cristiano Ronaldo: 20/1 (Real Madrid/Portugal)

One could argue that Neymar had the same or an even a bigger impact at Barcelona than Lio Messi in the team’s historic, treble-winning 2014-15 season. Messi also missed a chunk of time at the start of this season, while Neymar (and Luis Suarez) kept Barcelona humming at the top of La Liga. But the Little Wizard, who’s looking for his record fifth trophy, remains the frontrunner.

Odds to win the 2015 Manager of the Year

Luis Enrique: 1/4 (Barcelona)

Pep Guardiola: 5/1 (Bayern Munich)

Jorge Sampaoli: 12/1 (Chile National Team)

It’s surprising to see Sampaoli on this list, not because he doesn’t have the merits – he led the nation of 17 million to as high as third in the FIFA world rankings – but because he’s not a sexy name in the soccer world. Enrique’s side stomped on Guardiola’s team last season, and it should go the same way for this award.

Odds to win the 2015 Women’s World Player of the Year

Carli Lloyd: 1/4 (USA)

Aya Miyama: 6/1 (Japan)

Celia Sasic: 10/1 (Germany)

There is no way Carli Lloyd loses this award after the way she played in the Women’s World Cup.  Not only did the USA lift the trophy in Canada, but Lloyd had a memorable hat-trick against Japan in the final.

(Photo credit: Christopher Johnson (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode]. Photo has been cropped.)