Arsenal has endured a rough start to the new Premier League season, but a busy transfer deadline day helped Arsene Wenger restock his roster, with the hope being the Gunners could re-load enough to stay a top four teams.
We will get our first chance to see whether the new Arsenal additions can help the Gunners get over the loss of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas when they take on Swansea City today (10am, Fox Soccer Channel). The newly-promoted Swans came into the Premier League after showing off a high-flying attack in the League Championship, but have yet to score a goal through three Premier League games. On the bright side, Swansea has posted consecutive shutouts, but delivering a third will be a tough task at the Emirates.
There aren't the usual high-profile match-ups in Europe this weekend, which isn't a coincidence given the start of the Champions League group stage is this week, but there are still some enticing matches to watch. Stuart Holden could be in uniform for Bolton for the first time since suffering a broken leg last March as the Trotters take on Manchester United.
In Spain, Villarreal and Sevilla face off while Valencia take on Atletico Madrid. In Latin America, Cruz Azul faces Morelia in what should be an entertaining Mexican clash while Santos takes on Cruzeiro in a showcase of some of the best young Brazilian talent in the world.
MLS fans will be treated to some high-profile matches today, with Seattle taking on Real Salt Lake in the game of the week. On the opposite end of the playoff spectrum, Chivas USA and D.C. United clash in what could be seen as sort of an elimination game, with a loss striking a severe blow to one of these team's playoff hopes.
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 TV schedule is after the jump):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Borussia Dortmund vs. Hertha Berlin
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Bayern Munich vs. SC Freiburg
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Arsenal vs. Swansea City
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Stoke City vs. Liverpool
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Manchester City vs. Wigan Athletic
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Everton vs. Aston Villa
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Wolverhampton vs. Tottenham
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - West Ham vs. Portsmouth
10 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN3.com - Sunderland vs. Chelsea
12 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona
12 p.m. - GOLTV - Villarreal vs. Sevilla
12:20 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Coventry City vs. Derby County
12:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Bolton vs. Manchester United
12:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Roda JC vs. FC Twente
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - St. Etienne vs. Lille
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Ajaccio vs. Valenciennes
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Bordeaux vs. Evian Thonon Gaillard
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Caen vs. Toulouse
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Dijon vs. Lyon
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Sochaux vs. Lorient
2 p.m. - GOLTV - Real Madrid vs. Getafe
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/ESPN3.com - Cesena vs. Napoli
3 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Marseille vs. Stade Rennes
4 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Valencia vs. Atletico Madrid
4 p.m. - Telefutura - Sporting Kansas City vs. Houston Dynamo
4 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Seattle Sounders vs. Real Salt Lake
5 p.m. - GOLTV - Santos vs. Cruzeiro
6 p.m. - Univision - Queretaro vs. Pumas UNAM
6 p.m. - Azteca America - Cruz Azul vs. Morelia
7 p.m. - GOLTV - Nacional de Medellin vs. Santa Fe Bogota
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - New York Red Bulls vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Philadelphia Union vs. Portland Timbers
7:30 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Columbus Crew vs. Toronto FC
7:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - New England Revolution vs. FC Dallas
8 p.m. – Telefutura - Santos Laguna vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
9 p.m. - GOLTV - Dorados vs. Irapuato
9:45 p.m. - Galavision - Atlas vs. San Luis
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - Chivas USA vs. D.C. United
10:30 p.m. - MLS Direct Kick/MatchDay Live - San Jose Earthquakes vs. Chicago Fire
Thanks guys I learn a lot from your post. Bedoya already picked up an ankle injury, D. Williams with an assist, Jozy with a solid game but subbed out at halftime and Gooch starts for sporting.
Slide tackles are inherently dangerous as they are impossible to perform without exposing ones studs in some fashion. The fact is, there is a gray area surrounding such challenges, and I’m of the opinion that intent, history of fouls, and outcome of the challenge should factor in before reds are thrown around.
Moving on, a long slide on a wet pitch has a good chance of success. Replay shows Costly was clearly attempting to play the ball and Myers beat him there, stepping in front of the tackle. How the referee can make a call for a straight red from 30 yards away with a bad view angle yet miss Nielsen’s handling the ball outside the box is beyond me. The Telefutura announcers, given the benefit of instant replay from multiple angles, agree with me.
Collin and Myers both oversold their fouls, no two ways about it. The fact that both continued playing significant minutes after the incident attests to the fact.
Did you see Chance Myers nearly do an inverted flip when Costly smashed his shins? Would it have been a more clear red if his ankle bones were sticking out of his sock?
It was one of the most obvious straight reds of the season. It was brutal, and it was needless. Edwin in LA has the right mindset–the point is to keep people playing.
Keller’s was DEFINITELY more bizarre, but you can’t compete with Marntinez’ sheer brilliance!!!!! XD
Bunbury is just damn streaky. Sometimes he takes a game in hand and crushes keepers (in Vancouver, and today) and other times he’s so out of form he doesn’t start or sub for a few weeks.
LA owes us one, haha. Very ugly, undeserved win. Should’ve been tied with the penalty miss, and the undeserved red, but that’s football. (shrugs)
No sorry we were looking for naggers.
I’ve been waiting for this too! lol As a USMNT fan ofcourse, cuz i’m a galaxy fan
How was Costly even CLOSE to being near the ball and playing it, the ball was on the right foot of the KC defender and was partially behind him, Costly is coming from in front of him and on the opposite side?
You must be joking with the Clark play, completely left the air with both legs forward and landed right on Collin’s ankle, I rather have a player like that be red carded than lose the truly talented players that we have so few off in terms of creative offensive positions like Ferreira, Morales, ect
Houston should have been down 2-0 at half time so like you said it didn’t matter much, it just how the game shaped up for them
I know this might be a bit of a double edge knife but for the current time being, Thank you RSL for helping my Galaxy get a bit of a cushion in a very congested schedule coming up with will see them play 2 games a week something like 5 of the next 6 weeks or 4 of 6 don’t remember. RSL, @ Columbus, @ Morelia will be hard tests, not sure what to make of the “Superclassico” with the goats, if they have their defense healthy again, it MIGHT be tough…
In any case, 7 point lead on Seattle for Shield race with 18 points to play, wins vs Vancouver and @ Columbus should help.
Also, good to see Bunbury playing like he wants to justify his recent call up to the Nats.
Ching’s foul was rightly called and can’t even be considered a tackle.
The reds on Clark and Costly considering the circumstances were unduly harsh. Both attempted to play the ball in spite of their recklessness, but neither had significant prior cautionable offenses. Clark’s tackle in game 1 didn’t even connect with Collin. Both Collin and Myers sold their fouls and the referees bought it. Simple as that.
Mullan’s tackle, on the other hand, was a stupid attempt intended to injure due to his frustration at being dispossessed.
Nevertheless, I doubt Costly’s continued presence would have changed the outcome of the game. SKC were sharp, as usual, and the Dynamo played like a youth team of obese children.
As an RSL fan I have to admit, we should not have won that game. Obviously we got really lucky. Seattle didn’t deserve the red card, but then again, Keller shouldn’t have thrown the ball into the net and Rosales should have put away the pk. It was an ugly win, but I’ll take it.
He is a fantastic talent….but he understands the game better than anyone????
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! RSL!!!!!
You really think a reckless tackle like that which has pretty much NO importance in that area of the field when the other team CLEARLY have possesion is not warranted of a red. Never mind that he left his feet with both his studs up and hit the guy STRAIGHT on the shin, that’s how we lost guys like Ferreira, Morales and even to an extent Zakuani, although that had more negligence.
As for the ref in MLS giving a red for “sporting acting”, which one from the 1st game in Houston are you referring to?
Certainly not the Ching one which even HE admitted was MAJOR mental breakdown and that thru that coward tackle/trip from behind he left his team hanging and set it up perfectly for SKC to tie and only Hall’s 4 amazing saves in 2nd half prevented them from winning.
The 1st red in that game was the same, slide tackle with studs showing on the opponents shin or some part of their leg/ankle.
Get real man, MLS has plenty of bad calls but those weren’t it, Mullan not getting at least 15 games is a bigger deal!
Want to elaborate on my comment above to set the record straight…I watched highlights of the Hoffenheim match and it appears Fabian Johnson was playing mostly center midfielder behind a lone striker, not on the left side. The Bundesliga “live ticker,” which is generally reliable, had Johnson starting the game on the left, and that is what I based my earlier post on. Here is a link to the live ticker.
http://liveticker.bundesliga.de/en/co12/bundesliga/#im130209
Count me as another MLS fan that has to overlook the result against Manchester United. They have such a deep team and are absolutely on fire! It’s hard to imagine any EPL team being able to overtake them. I can’t wait to see how the Champions League plays out.
For the second game, SKC’s amazing acting gets a Dynamo player ejected. Costly ejected in the 66th minute with no prior fouls for a yellow card offense at best.
MLS refs just keep lowering the bar.
PFE go down a man, and like that sporting knock in 3 goals and are up 2-3. Good to see Onyewu go the full 90…
Does anyone know if Fabian Johnson ever played centrally. From what I have seen of him he looks like a good central midfield prospect. He slips little passes and is very technical.We could really use someone in center with a little attacking initiative. I hate all these sideways and negative passes of late. We could use someone with set of huevos.
Nope. Keller’s was even more bizarre – as is this game. Strangest game of the year – two reds to add to the mix
I was watching Sporting’s game on a stream, but missed both goals, however in most of the game and I watched most expect maybe 11 minutes of the 60+, it seems Sporting is always pressuring, are Pacos de Ferreira just getting real lucky on the counter?
I’m hoping Gooch didn’t have any fault in any of the too, but if the way the game has been played, it wouldn’t surprise me, counters are based on speed, which is Gooch’s weakness? =/
Best own goal IN MLS…. nothing can rival Inigo Martinez! http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/09/must-see-own-goal-inigo-martinez.html
Love seeing Gooch starting again. Madrid win 4-2. Getefe played wel despite tge final score.
Kasey Keller just gave up the own goal of the year. And them Rosales missed a PK. Strange doigs in Seattle.
Anybody have a stream on Sounders-RSL?
Highlights of 1899 Hoffenhein (4) vs Mainz (0):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBt3I84TAHY
Johnson makes a dangerous pass in the final third, but his teammate could not finish. Williams starts off his debut at Hoffenheim with an assist. Enjoy.
Good to see Gooch start again, if he could get 75% of his old form with a full season heading into World Cup qualifiers in the 1st group stage, that will buy us more time to get all the youngsters John, Ream, Gonzalez, Orozco as well as outside guys like Cameron, Whitbread etc work their way to a good enough level and comfortable playing with the 1st team
Probably because they were whomping on them and he has to be a bit tired after all the travel and minutes he logged for the United States. I don’t think he is fully up to fitness yet. I guess that is what happens when you don’t play for 2 years.
why did he come out at halftime?
Ahhpologiiize… Go ahead, kiss it.
I wrote the twice there, my mistake.
Gooch is starting.Didnt see that coming.
Does Sporting have any injury problems?…or is he the the legitimate starter?
Forgot Fernando Torres before he went to Chelsea lol and I belive Arbeloa I think, or was it Albiol???
Chelsea have another Spaniard Oriol Romeu or something, came from Barca’s B squad.
Me too.
Pretty clear for me. Chops at times but not too bad.
AZ Alkmaar up 3-0 against Vitesse Arnhem. No goals for Jozy but he’s been involved in each buildup. Passing well, playing hard, smiling – yeah, it’s good to get playing time.
Jozy getting a cleaner softer touch with his back to the goal & playing with enthusiasm.
Arteta – Everton
So true, ive only been watching epl a couple of years, bit this easily looks like the best MU team in a while. If this continues, they r gonna run away w the championship. And no, im not usually a mu fan.
got one at mips dot tv / channel dot php?u=70725
But it is choppy. I can’t find anymore. I miss myp2p
I think a lot of MLS fans share that sentiment now.
Yeah, I noticed that watching AC Milan yesterday. Obviously I am naive, but I was really surprised.
Any links to watch Jozy play?
After watching United’s start to the season, I am not so ashamed of the MLS tour and all star game.
*played most of the game.
Eh, don’t think people are worrying considering only 4 starters actually played.
And I have to disagree about Villa, he scores too many timely, big time goals.
Barcelona looked poor. They miss their CB’s. David Villa will be the next star booted off the side.
Ugh. Go away, Hernández.