Chelsea has jumped out to an impressive start to the English Premier League season, but they will face perhaps their toughest test to date when the travel to the Emirates to take on an improving Arsenal side in the weekend's most high-profile soccer match.
The Gunners are undefeated to start the season, much like Chelsea, but three draws from five matches has Arsenal needing to bag all three points against the Blues in order to re-establish themselves as a top four team in the Premier League.
Manchester United stands ready to pounce if Chelsea slips up, but the Red Devils won't have an easy time at home when they take on Clint Dempsey and Tottenham. Spurs have had some inconsistent form lately, and will need to play at a higher level if they plan on taking any points from their trip to Manchester.
In Spain, Barcelona is leading La Liga as expected, but the teams chasing them aren't who most would have expected. With Real Madrid slumping, Sevilla is one of the teams currently ahead of the reigning La Liga champions in the standings and Sevilla will put their perfect home record on the line against Tito Vilanova's side.
Major League Soccer will take center stage tonight, with Sporting Kansas City and the Chicago Fire colliding in a match-up of two of the best and most in-form teams in the league. The winner will be in first place in the East, and Sporting KC can put some pressure on San Jose in the Supporters Shield race with a victory at Livestrong Sporting Park.
Here is a rundown of This Weekend's Soccer on TV, as well as SBI's Top Ten Matches to Watch:
SBI's Top Ten Matches to Watch
1. Arsenal vs. Chelsea. London Derby, two teams playing well to start the season. You want to wake up early for this one.
2. Sevilla vs. Barcelona. Battle of La Liga unbeatens, with Sevilla being at home you have to like their chances of making things tough on Barca.
3. Manchester United vs. Tottenham. Clint Dempsey, Brad Friedel and Spurs look to take points from Old Trafford, where United will be welcoming back Wayne Rooney to league play.
4. Sporting Kansas City vs. Chicago Fire. One of the biggest MLS regular season games of the year, two of the hottest teams in the league square off with first place in the East on the line.
5. Juventus vs. Roma. Two of Italy's traditional powers square off as unbeaten Juve faces a tough test from Totti and Roma (and we might even have a Michael Bradley sighting).
6. Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders. These Cascadia rivalries will have more than bragging rights to play for with Vancouver battling for their playoff lives and Seattle trying to stay in the top three in the West.
7. San Jose Earthquakes vs. FC Dallas. The top team in MLS faces one of the most in-form teams in recent weeks. Dallas is in desperation mode and will be seeking a win to jump past Vancouver for the final playoff spot in the West.
8. Stoke City vs. Swansea. After facing a murderer's row of opponents to start the season, Geoff Cameron and Stoke will look to record their first win of the season against a solid Swansea side.
9. Portland Timbers vs. D.C. United. So why this game? When they met late in the season a year ago in Washington they put on one of the most exciting games of the season. With D.C. United needing to boost their playoff prospects, and with Portland's players auditioning for their jobs in 2013, this one should be another thriller.
10. Ajax vs. FC Twente. Ajax is the defending Dutch League champion, but they have started the current domestic season slowly by their standards (3-0-3). The Amsterdam squad will look to turn things around against a strong Twente side that has a perfect 6-0 record to start the season.
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THIS WEEKEND'S SOCCER ON TV
FRIDAY
2:30pm- GolTV- Fortuna Dusseldorf vs. Schalke 04
3:15pm- ESPN3.com- Pacos de Ferreira vs. Benfica
8:30pm- NBC Sports Network- Sporting Kansas City vs. Chicago Fire
SATURDAY
7:45am- ESPN2- Arsenal vs. Chelsea
9:30am- GolTV- Werder Bremen vs. Bayern Munich
10am- FoxSoccer2go- Everton vs. Southampton
10am- Fox Soccer Channel- Fulham vs. Manchester City
10am- Fox Soccer Plus- Norwich City vs. Liverpool
10am- FoxSoccer2go- Reading vs. Newcastle United
10am- FoxSoccer2go- Stoke City vs. Swansea City
10am- FoxSoccer2go- Sunderland vs. Wigan Athletic
10am- FoxSoccer2go- Motherwell vs. Celtic
10am- beIN Sport en Espanol- Valencia vs. Real Zaragoza
11:30am- Univision Deportes- Paris St. Germain vs. Sochaux
Noon- beIN Sport en Espanol- Parma vs. AC Milan
12:30pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Manchester United vs. Tottenham
12:30pm- GolTV- Borussia Dortmund vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach
2pm- beIN Sport- Real Sociedad vs. Athletic Bilbao
2pm- Univision Deportes- Ajaccio vs. Brest
2pm- beIN Sport 2- Nancy vs. Montpellier
2:45pm- RAI- Juventus vs. Roma
2:45pm- ESPN3- Ajax vs. Twente
3:30pm- ESPN3.com- Rio Ave vs. Porto
4pm- beIN Sport- Sevilla vs. Barcelona
5:30pm- Univision- Club America vs. Morelia
7pm- MLS Direct Kick/MSG- New York Red Bulls vs. Toronto FC
7:30pm- MLS Direct Kick- Columbus Crew vs. Philadelphia Union
8pm- Telefutura- Tigres UANL vs. San Luis
8:30pm MLS Direct Kick- Houston Dynamo vs. New England Revolution
9pm- NBC Sports Network- Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Seattle Sounders
10:30pm- MLS Direct Kick- Portland Timbers vs. D.C. United
10:30pm- MLS Direct Kick- Chivas USA vs. Real Salt Lake
10:30pm- MLS Direct Kick- San Jose Earthquakes vs. FC Dallas
SUNDAY
9am- beIN Sport- Lazio vs. Siena
9am- RAI- Sampdoria vs. Napoli
9:30am- GolTV- Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Freiburg
10:30am- ESPN3.com- VVV Venlo vs. PSV Eindhoven
11am- Fox Soccer Channel- Aston Villa vs. West Bromwich Albion
11am- beIN Sport- Saint Etienne vs. Reims
11:30am- golTV- Wolfsburg vs. Mainz 05
1pm- Univision- UNAM Pumas vs. Puebla
1:50pm- beIN Sport- Real Madrid vs. Deportivo La Coruna
2:45pm- RAI- Inter Milan vs. Fiorentina
3pm- Univision Deportes- Olympique Lion vs. Bordeaux
3:30pm- beIN Sport en Espanol- Espanyol vs. Atletico Madrid
7pm- Galavision- Colorado Rapids vs. Los Angeles Galaxy
Cascadia Cup match should be higher
Ives, what IS Gangnam style? It’s all over the internet and did you see the premiere of Last Resort?
I work close to 70 hours a week. It’s on-demand and that is why it’s worth it. I can watch any of the EPL matches in their entirety whenever I want.
but if u work 40-50hrs a week, will you ever get to really see all of that $169 usage?
FoxSoccer2Go is a thing of beauty. Not a bad price at $169 a year.
Bradley isn’t in the squad list for the Juve-Roma match.
This feature is very helpful. I am one of the lucky ones who actually gets Bein (in Spanish) but they don’t give DirecTv their schedules with enough detail. If I click on the info for an upcoming game it usually just says La Liga Futbol (soccer). Thanks for putting this together each week!
Not a cakewalk for DC going into Jeld-Wen and they need to win