GOAL50 2021 Head to Head: Press vs Mewis

There are only a few days left for you, the readers, to decide GOAL50.

This year is special as it will be the first year that the winners, both male and female, are decided by the fans through a head-to-head voting system.

There are 2,450 possible match-ups when it comes to voting, meaning rivals and team-mates alike can face each other as the final rankings are decided.

The U.S. women's national team would usually be incredibly well-represented in GOAL50 and bring about many head-to-heads, but this year was not a great one for them. After winning just one game in 90 minutes at the Olympics, they had to settle for a bronze medal in Japan.

That, plus the Games largely interrupting the club season in the U.S., has contributed to just four USWNT stars being on the shortlist. However, that's not to say there were not players on the team that didn't have a great 2020-21 and will not produce a mini-battle that is difficult to decide.

When the NWSL was forced into a reduced format in 2020, many U.S. stars flocked over to England's Women's Super League for regular football. The player who shone the brightest after doing so was undoubtedly Sam Mewis.

The midfielder joined Manchester City last summer and it did not take her long to adjust to her new surroundings. Her third league appearance brought about the first of seven goals she would score in the WSL, with her performances in midfield throughout the season simply dominant.

She scored five goals in the Women's Champions League too, but her best moment in England was certainly the thumping header she scored at Wembley last November as Man City beat Everton in the FA Cup final.

While she did not carry that consistent form into the Olympics for the national team, where few U.S. players shone in truth, she did put in a huge performance in the quarter-final, with a goal and an assist against the Netherlands helping Vlatko Andonovski's side through to the semi-finals.

Christen Press' nomination to the GOAL50 shortlist, meanwhile, is more for her form with the USWNT. She did follow Mewis to England and to Manchester last summer, joining Manchester United, but was hit with illness in the first half of the season just as she was adapting to the league.

She returned in the new year with a goal against Everton in January as her national team form then started to hit brilliant heights. Leading into the Olympics, she was the star for her country, scoring five goals and providing four assists in nine appearances before jetting off to Japan. She also ended her time in Manchester with three goal involvements in her last four games.

Again, there were few star performers for the U.S. at the Games. Press' main contributions were a goal and an assist in their only win of the tournament, against New Zealand in the group stages, and the cool as ice spot-kick she scored in the penalty shootout win over the Netherlands.

Like Mewis, she went home with a bronze medal around her neck for her efforts, but who had the better season? Which USWNT will rank highest when GOAL50 ends?

Only you can decide – and you don't have much time left to do so! Voting ends on November 16, so make sure you have had your say.