Chelsea and Manchester City are both trying to win key races in England, but they are slightly different targets for the two clubs.
For Chelsea, the goal is to win the English Premier League title, and a win today vs. Man City can help that cause. Manchester City's goal is fourth place, and the lucrative UEFA Champions League berth that comes with it. Beating Chelsea at home won't come easy, but City will need to take at least a point if it wants to avoid losing ground to all the teams chasing the Citizens in the race for fourth place.
Chelsea-City is just one of today's many matches. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona are in action today, as are Americans Jose Torres (with Pachuca) and Stuart Holden (with Bolton).
If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today's Soccer TV schedule is after the jump):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
7:45am- ESPN2- Chelsea vs. Manchester City
9:30am- GolTV- Mainz 05 vs. Werder Bremen
10am- Setanta USA- Bolton vs. Wolverhampton
10am- FSC/FSE- Birmingham City vs. Wigan
10am- ESPN360.com- Watford vs. Newcastle United
10am- Setanta USA- Montpelier vs. Rennes
Noon- GolTV- Getafe vs. Real Zaragoza
Noon- Setanta USA- Burnley vs. Portsmouth (Delayed)
12:15pm- FSC/FSE- Stoke City vs. Arsenal
12:25pm-ESPN Deportes- Bayer Leverkusen vs. FC Cologne
1pm- Setanta USA- Lyon vs. Nice
1:45pm- ESPN360.com- PSV Eindhoven vs. Waalwijk
1:45pm- Setanta USA- Bolton vs. Wolves
2pm- GolTV- Tenerife vs. Real Madrid
2:45pm- FSC/FSE- Lazio vs. Fiorentina
3pm- Fox Sports Espanol- Independiente vs. Racing Club
4pm- ESPN Deportes/ESPN360.com- Barcelona vs. Malaga
4pm- GolTV- River Plate vs. Penarol
5pm- FSC- Catania vs. AS Bari (Delayed)
6pm- FSE- Cruz Azul vs. Atlas
6pm- Telefutura- Queretaro vs. Santos Laguna
6pm- GolTV- Cucuta vs. Nacional
8pm- Telemundo- Chivas Guadalajara vs. San Luis
8pm- Telefutura- Pachuca vs. Pumas UNAM
8pm- Mun2- Tigres UANL vs. Morelia
8pm- FSE- Catania vs. AS Bari
8pm- Azteca America- Cruz Azul vs. Atlas (Delayed)
10pm- Telemundo- Atlante vs. Monterrey
I came away impressed by Holden today. He played well and as the announcer said he looked comfortable on the ball. But what i really liked was his hustle and energy. he made good tackles and always got involved and made good runs. Even on one of Wolves free kicks off the post If the player beside Holden leaps as he did it’s deflected.
I like Jozy’s progress but I could see Holden with more premier league goals at the end.
CM is interesting but Holden is the RM inthe USMNT.
MLS is more like the 10-20 in the cola and that’s generous but you have to admit it maybe should get more credit than it does.
I agree 100%.
Kenny Cooper dressed by did not play for Plymouth. They made 2 subs at half-time and their last at 50 minutes in a 4-3 loss to Sheffield United.
Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds 2-2 with Huddlesfield. Only 2 subs were made by Leeds.
Michael Bradley played 90 minutes for ‘Gladbach, 1-1.
Rico Clark was an unused sub for Frankfurt in their 2-1 loss.
Bocanegra played 90 minutes in Rennes 3-1 loss.
Good game by Holden. He took all their corners and attacking free kicks and delivered some nice ball. He was box-to-box, arguably better defensively than he was on the attack (and that’s not a knock on his attacking). He had a couple of shots. Hahnemann looked solid in goal for Wolves.
OK,
Since thats the case big difference. I lost respect for Bridge since he didnt slug Terry after the game. Lost his girl and his spot on the WC because the guy bagged his girl and HE quit the WC team. He should stayed on and forced the coaches to kick Terry off.
Terry should have had class and withdrawn from the world cup. I dont fault him that much for the affair. Trust me with you life but not your money and your wife they say.
…but when you get caught you gotta take what comes like a man.
It is a compound fracture.
THE YANKS ARE COMING!
maybe it wouldnt of been 5- 0 if he was playing
He has been on fire this week.
here is hard play and there is intent to injure. Both are two very different things.
Shawcross did not intend to break Ramsey’s ankle. Period. End of story.
Was he reckless? Perhaps he was, maybe not…. It is a split second kind of thing. If it was deemed reckless rather than just a hard tackle then there will be a long suspension for the guy, and rightly so.
As a Gunner I will leave it at that, and focus on wishing Ramsey a recovery from what could be a career ending injury. It looks like a really bad break, maybe even (heaven forbid) a compound fracture from the photos I have seen.
I for one really jumped onto the Birmingham player that broke Eduardo’s leg two years ago. And in retrospect I think I may have I overreacted with the anger of the moment. It was a hard tackle then and I think it was a hard tackle now. You can only look and judge these kinds when your emotions are not so raw. This is the third Arsenal player in three years to have this kind of horrible thing happen to him and it is real hard not to let anget get the best of you. No other team in England has had to endure as many severe injuries like Arsenal has had.
However I think there is not much difference between the two most recent unfortunate incidents in my opinion.
Ironically it was announced earlier today that Shawcross will be in the squad for England versus Egypt on Wednesday. Whether that happens is up in the air now I guess.
Dark clouds swirling around the English Nats. I would think Howard, Spector, Bocanegra, Guzan, Donovan, Holden, Altidore, Dempsey, E. Johnson, Demerit, Simek, Hahnemann, Onyewu would approach the June 12 WC game in Rustenberg with much more hunger and vigor than their opponents. Look out my lads…The Yanks are coming..and WE FEAR NO ONE.
Per espn:
“While Knight got the plaudits, Aberdeen-born midfielder Stuart Holden had much to do with the victory.
The United States international was rewarded for his display in midweek against Tottenham with his first league start.
He responded superbly and Wolves had difficulty dealing with his set pieces.”
this says it all for Stuart:
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=1174916.html?cid=rssfeed&att=
Hey IVES, will you be up at 7:00 a.m. to tell us if Beasley and Edu are starting??? Can I come here, check it, and then go back to sleep if they aren’t ; )
It will be 6 a.m. for me, ouchie
Carlos Bocanegra played 90 minutes at LB today with 3 GOALS against him coming from RM and RF… INTERESTING
Frank Simek managed 00 minutes (dressed on the bench) as Reading ripped Shefield Wednesday 5-0… DON”T UNDERSTAND WHERE ALL THIS TALK OF SIMEK DESERVING WORL CUP CONSIDERATION COMES FROM IVES
great video…this is why he gets called him when he is healthy and in form… for those too young to know. He still has it too.