Photo by ISIPhotos.com
Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa have climbed out of the relegation zone on the strength of a three-match unbeaten streak, but they still sit just two points from the bottom three.
They can extend that gap with a home win today against a Stoke City side enjoying their own impressive campaign. The Potters stand just four points from the top four, and Geoff Cameron’s side are riding a 4-0-1 run.
Struggling Arsenal have managed just one win in six league matches, a skid that has the Gunners sitting in 10th place. They face a West Brom side currently in fifth place in the EPL, with only goal difference keeping the Baggies out of third place ahead of Chelsea and Tottenham.
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
9:30am- GolTV- Augsburg vs. Bayern Munich
10am- ESPN2- Sunderland vs. Chelsea
10am- Fox Soccer Channel- Arsenal vs. West Bromwich Albion
10am- Fox Soccer Plus- Aston Villa vs. Stoke City
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- Southampton vs. Reading
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- Swansea City vs. Norwich City
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- Wigan Athletic vs. Queens Park Rangers
10am- beIN Sport Espanol- Real Sociedad vs. Getafe
11am- Univision Deportes- Paris St. Germain vs. Evian TG
11:30am- GolTV- Borussia Dortmund vs. Wolfsburg (Delayed)
Noon- beIN Sport Espanol- Atalanta vs. Parma
2pm- Univision Deportes- Montpellier vs. Ajaccio
2pm- beIN Sport- Real Valladolid vs. Real Madrid
2:45pm- RAI- Roma vs. Fiorentina
3:30pm- ESPN3- Porto vs. Moreirense
4pm- beIN Sport- Roma vs. Fiorentina (Delayed)
4pm- beIN Sport Espanol- Osasuna vs. Valencia
wow Bradley seemed as if he played every position on the field…attacking, defending, wing play, even goalie providing a goal line cleareance. Great work rate!!!! A goal would have been icing on the cake for him…excellent
MOst Impressive Yank abroad this season so far goes to……… Mr. Michael Bradley. Seriously Bradley has looked really impressive for Roma. He looks so much better in a #8 role versus strictly a #6.
The ESPN commentators were gushing about Bradley most of the second half, mostly about his insane work rate. He probably should have scored several goals, off a header that he put wide and several runs into the box that the keeper saved right at his feet. Bradley also saved a goal off the line. Really impressive performance
He’s awesome. Played a great ball into the box in the 41st. He made 2 runs at the end of the 1st half where if he’d gotten decent, quick square balls would’ve had good shooting opportunities on his right foot.
Great match to watch; the beautiful game in all aspects. Bradley consistently getting looks in the box but not able to make anything of them. He’s been incredibly fast on the counter attacks. I can see why he has been getting minutes for Roma lately.
Speculation on moving DeRossi is pretty heavy so Roma may as well find out about his potential replacement sooner rather than later.
Bradley could have a hat trick if he had brought his finishing boots.
doth my eyes deceive me? Altidore lines up for the 2nd half and proceeds to throw-up on the pitch??
Bradley in the starting lineup for Roma with De Rossi on the bench. If and when Zeman tries to reintegrate De Rossi it will be interesting to see who makes way.
Guzan and Lichaj For The Win. POlish Americans doing it big. Maybe Wondo can latch on with AV?
I want a hat trick from Jozy today
Seriously. With AZ’s dip in form Jozy has also suffered. Hey, it’s only been a month but let’s root for a consistent season throughout. 20 goals to the former Red Bulls player!!!
I still demand it . Besides Jozy may be gone by seasons end if not January
If you take into account his overall performance rather than the date of his last goal, it hasn’t been “only a month.” He has scored exactly two goals since Sept. 16th. That is close to three consecutive months of pretty awful form. Given the large role Jozy is asked to play in AZ’s attack one could easily argue that the theory that “with AZ’s dip in form Jozy has also suffered” gets everything backwards.
his team sucks. he’s had a few assists since but been unlucky to score.
Are peeps watching Jozy’s game? He just got fouled in the box at the 29th minute and the commentators not only agreed it should have been a foul but they said it’s the 2nd one the ref does not call for AZ, not sure if they were both on Jozy but this is so unfair if true….
Should have been a penalty, no doubt. That would have salvaged an otherwise lackluster game. He’s pretty much lost at sea right now.
His touch failed him on that one cross from the left but then he came close with a shot to the near post….
Ref was very bad towards AZ today….
Never been a Lichaj fan, but he is having a great game on both sides of the ball.
Is he actually playing midfield?
Definitely getting forward and hitting some dangerous crosses. Ends 0-0 but Villa had way more chances.
Wingback in a 5-3-2/3-5-2.
A very convincing dive by Santi Cazorla in the box. 2-0 Arsenal.
Cazorla is one of my favorite BPL players these days, but that flopping was just terrible.
Ya, he convinced me on first glance.
how about the no call that allowed Arsenal to ‘win’ the ball outside the 18 to create the PK? and I thought it was Chamberlain who got hacked down in the box on that 2nd PK
It was. 1st PK was Cazorla and the dive
got it. I missed that part of the game. thanks
so both Arsenal goals are off ref gifts. great
and what about Mertesacher’s handball in the box? could have been called, seen that called before.
My opinion, could be biased as I am an Arsenal fan, was that the call was correct. I thought he was fouled. Just because he’s frigin huge doesn’t mean its not a foul when his shirt is pulled and he’s grabbed from behind.
But yes, a goal from the run of play would be nice. Good god Lukas how the hell?
I hear you, I have no horse in this game, but that little shirt tug occurs on every ball into the box, rarely called. good for Arsenal the ref saw it that way, especially after the Caorla dive; that was the ref’s chance to make things right with Mertasacher’s hand
needed in for Arsenal. enjoy your day!!!
needed WIN for Arsenal that is 🙂
Two things.
1) The more I watch the EPL, the more overrated it seems. Kick and rush, kick and rush.
2) Michael Bradley DIDN’T make it into the Villa lineup, and did at Roma.
again
MB90 is good enough for Roma, but wasn’t for Villa. Lucky, lucky break. Imagine being stuck in that mess… Though it would’ve been cool for Lichaj Guzan and MB to be on the same team. Until relegation…
I agree. The EPL is quite overrated. The Villa VS. Stoke game was just brutal to watch.
And the manager at Villa at the time was Gerard Houllier, who is now running NYRB.
And the guy he played ahead of Bradley was a guy named Jean Makoun who, in his first game, got a straight red. When he came back he immediately got a yellow. The guy was terrible but Houllier kept playing him. Not surprisingly, Houllier was gone as soon as the season was over. Bradley’s time at Villa should never be held against him.
Not even when he wasn’t playing much and he wasn’t in form and still was MB90? lol
Ok, if I’m going to try and watch Villa-Stoke for the Americans, can I at least get some Peter Crouch for entertainment sake? Still 0-0 62nd
OMG Gervinho misses the ball completely from 6 yards out. He’s just been brutal. Bring on Podolski
3-0 Chelsea, Torres just misses the hat trick, rips it off the bar and Mata cleans it up.
If you bet on Red Card Jermaine Jones today, cash your betting slips. Missed if it was a straight RC, if so harsh, but a dumb tackle. Schalke down 3-1 to Stuttgart.
Pro Tip – the 9:30 Bundesliga games make for great ht viewing for the 10 EPL games
Uh-oh. I have not seen any of the game, but it appears to be a straight red card for Jones and that probably means a three-game suspension. One Stuttgart player also got a straight red card and a second Stuttgart player a yellow-red. Must be a high-intensity game and Schalke is now in deep, deep stuff. The team seems to be unraveling. I think part of the problem is Klass Jan Huntelaar and Lewis Holtby both have contracts that end in June and neither have signed extensions, but they also have not explicitly said whether they want to leave the club in January and all the uncertainty is causing deep problems.
Why would his straight red mean a 3 game suspension? Because he has a history? A red even if a straight red is usually just 1 game suspension?
What history? This was his first straight red in his entire career and he has very few yellow reds.
Maybe ‘history’ is not exactly the term. Maybe ‘mostly deserved reputation’. He’s a thug. He’s our thug, I suppose, but he is a pretty dirty player.
“thug” is a bit harsh, IMO. He’s a hard player. So is Bradley. I love it when have both those guys in midfield for the nats, because the other side knows we mean business. Wish Gooch was in form and we had another hard man in central defense. But I digress…
Jones is a hard player and hard players have a role. He’s no De Jong – that’s a thug.
You obviously have never seen him play and think you know about him by what you read on the internet. Hint: not everything on the internet is true.
Guzan vs Howard. Looks like we have a Friedel/Keller 2.0 fight going as HOward seems to be droppong as Guzan’s continued PT has made him so much better
Ryan Nelsen scores for QPR! A great alum for MLS, and for those laughing at college soccer, he came up through that system too. Still bossing it at 35, haven’t seen him since his excellent ’10 WC.
Yup, and he began at the D3 level at Greensboro College, not a fun guy to play against..believe me.
Huh, really? I didn’t find that.
He and the former RSL striker in Russia are among the best ever non-American MLS players
Not MLS but college soccer: Vedad Ibišević
Touche but can we take the credit for their development?
I think they spent a good chunk of their teen years here, to me it has to do with it being instilled in them from their culture…Ibisevic played High School and did well I think he played college before he trialed with someone, not sure if it was directly with TSG…
This guy? Awesome pic, Yura! https://twitter.com/dommnorris/status/277527164004466688/photo/1
Torressssssssssssssssssssss
Oh Gervinho missed the net. What a surprise
Lichaj starting at left midfield??????! This should be interesting!
In his time at Villa,Lichaj has allegedly been used all across the back four and in all the midfield positions while in the reserves.
I think he may have just won some points with Villa fans by bowing a Stoke player (not Geoff) in the back to the ground, as retaliation for a previous Stoke foul that left a Villa player down.
Big games for CFC and The Gunner’s managers. Rafa is in a pickle already, and Wenger needs to get a win before everyone loses faith in the squad that he built.
I’m rooting for Stoke over Aston Villa. Gotta go with the former Dynamo player in the gringo love fest today.