For a team that drops points as rarely as Juventus has in recent years, a two-match winless streak is enough to ring alarm bells. With their lead atop Serie A down to three matches, the Old Lady head into their showdown vs. Udinese knowing they can’t afford many more slip-ups.
Udinese currently sit in eight place in Serie A, but consecutive blowout wins to start the new year has them feeling confident heading into today’s showdown in Turin.
The international soccer schedule features a versatile mix of exciting options. The African Cup of Nations begins (and in case you hadn’t heard, all African Cup of Nations matches are being shown on ESPN3.com), while Boca Juniors and River Plate renew acquaintances in the latest episode of ‘El Superclasico’.
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- Bayern Munich vs. SV Greuther Fuerth
10am- Fox Soccer Channel- Liverpool vs. Norwich City
10am- Fox Soccer Plus- Newcastle United vs. Reading
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- Swansea City vs. Stoke City
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- West Ham United vs. Queens Park Rangers
10am- FoxSoccer2Go.com- Wigan Athletic vs. Sunderland
10am- beIN Sport Espanol- Granada vs. Rayo Vallecano
11am- Univision Deportes- Olympique Marseille vs. Montpellier
11am- ESPN3.com- South Africa vs. Cape Verde Islands
Noon- RAI- Palermo vs. Lazio
Noon- beIN Sport- Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona
12:30pm- Fox Soccer Channel- West Bromwich Albion vs. Aston Villa
12:30pm- GolTV- Werder Bremen vs. Borussia Dortmund
2pm- beIN Sport- Olympique Marseille vs. Montpellier (Delayed)
2pm- ESPN3.com- Angola vs. Morocco
2pm- beINSport en Espanol- Getafe vs. Espanol
2:45pm- beIN Sport- Juventus vs. Udinese
3pm- Univision Deportes- Ajaccio vs. Valenciennes
3:15pm- ESPN3.com- Porto vs. Pacos de Ferreira
4pm- beIN Sport Espanol- Malaga vs. Celta Vigo
6pm- Univision- Club America vs. Atlante
8pm- Fox Sports HD- Boca Juniors vs. River Plate
8pm- Univision Deportes- Pachuca vs. Queretaro
8pm- UniMas- Tigres UANL vs. Atlas
9pm- beIN Sport Espanol- Palermo vs. Lazio (Delayed)
10pm- Univision Deportes- San Luis vs. Morelia
Peep the highlight of Jozy’s hat trick. The crowd starts in with ‘The Boss’ chant as he celebrates. Some real quality finishing from Jozy today–Jurgey are you listening?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dHI3K2x4Gg
Jozy had a nice balance today of passing when the pass was there but also taking on defenders when the opportunity arose. He read the game really well.i like that two of his goals were headers, though must also note that, though he took his goals well, he was virtually unmarked on all of them.
Great hat trick for Jozy. Verbeek seems to have taken advantage of the break to address some of AZs issues. Big win over the number 5 team in Eridivisie.
could of had at least one more at the end, but still impressive for AZ
Yes, he made an absolutely sick, outside of the foot laser pass 40 yards across the pitch to Maher in stride and got it back in the box but stumbled.
Grrrrr! Enough with the moderation!
Jozy just got one!! Was right near the goal mouth and tipped a cross in with his head. Maybe he’ll get another tonight
And there it is!!!!
3 for Jozy today!
Should of been FOUR, but his touch let him down in front of the goal. The three goals put Altidore in second with 14 goals, just two goals behind Wilfred Bony for the Eredivisie League scoring lead, Bony who is competing in the African Cup for Ivory Coast, will miss several more club games.
Good game for Jozy who made the front of Vitesse goalmouth his territory. Lets hope he can replicate this form next month.
Yes, but actually was not his touch that failed him on that play but his balance, falling down in the box.
Jozy started off the sequence and finished it into the open net.
goooooallllllll! Jooooozyyyyyy!
whats with all the comments needing moderation?
Jozy also with a nice steal in the defensive end, then dribbling 1v3 to draw a dangerous free kick. made a great 1v1 move and blasted the side netting, coming so close. Would have also been in 1v1 with the keeper if Maher had put anything rmotely resembling touch on that pass.
Jozy holding up play and passing extremely well so far. Had a nice headed assist on a disallowed goal. looked like a bad offsides call. AZ dominant but their back four is so shaky they could allow a goal at any point, no matter how against the run of play.
Lichay showed pretty well imo before tiring after playing so many minutes he’s not used to these days. Good for him, should be seeing some more pt now too with the injury situation. It’s an opportunity, we’ll see what happens.
But that Villa team is poor, different players losing marks in the box repeatedly, midfield holes that widen as the game wears on with players that tire from chasing so much, game after game. And every game is a shooting gallery in their own area, constant pressure, even though they played a nice 1st half this game at least
Edu came on in the 65th minute for Bursaspor, which won 2-1. Not a bad outing for Mo, who played deep Number 6 position. Had a great shot on goal that the GK had to save for a corner kick and also had a steal to set up a fast break. He did have a silly foul in the last minutes that gave the opponents a free kick in a very dangerous position that they just about scored on to tie the game.
sounds about right
Oh wow. Sociedad 91st minute winner over Barca 3-2.
Every time Barca drops points, my cold, dead heart thaws a little bit.
Awesome sentiment.
Same for me when Real Madrid drops points. It’s almost completely thawed this season..
Today is a dark day for the global game of football. Barca is the model for how the game should be played. The football gods are shedding a tear.
Lichaj playing well. Looks good going forward and strong and feisty in defense. Could have scored but he hit it hard to the corner and the goalie made a nice save and get, he’s a right back. Hope he keeps it up.
Lichaj just had his shot blocked after a nice build up. Probably could have done better.
Why doesnt de Guzman play for Canada? He would have got them toward the last round of qualifying. Do the Canucks only care about hockey and the CFL?
Supposedly, Jonathan DeGuzman and Junior Hoillet were ready to commit to the CMNT if the Canucks made it to the Hex. A lot of people have criticized this attitude, but as an outsider, I unfortunately agree since they both had other options.
It’s a shame DeRo was injured for the away match at Honduras. What could have been for Canada. At least they’ve got some exciting young guys that might get them to the 2018 WC.
*Hoilett
Lichaj doesn’t start, but comes on at RB after 5 minutes. Starter pulled a hammy.
Super sub. If he doesnt start he will regardless see some PT since everyone there gets injured in the 59th min
Ayyy…he almost scored a 3rd for Villa there.
I turn on the game, and he’s getting served with a yellow card.
Other than that, how are the Yanks doing?
Lichaj, the Jermaine Jones of the english league. Man both those guys get yellows all the time
the yellow for lichaj was a good sacrifice for the team. AV was up for a corner and there was a quick counter – lichaj deliberately fouled taking the yellow to slow the counter
Edu is on the bench for Bursaspor
He got a good ~28 minutes in the win, too.
Hoffenheim had some good chances at the end of the game to win it. Fabian was involved in a few of those. Williams played well coming of the bench early 35th minute sub.
+1 I saw parts of the game and the team looks reborn under new coach Marco Kurz, playing with fire in their bellies and looked good tactically. This is very good news for Fabian and Williams (and the USMNT) after the nightmare last autumn with fired coach Markus Babbel.
4-0 in 67th min. Sturridge and Gerrard
Holden didn’t dress today for Bolton. Ream in the starting 11 though
As cold as it is in England today, I’m okay with Stu not playing on semi-frozen pitch.
Ream goes the full 90 in an away shutout of the #4 team in the Championship. Who’da thunk it?
Ream is more than capable of putting in stellar, shut down defensive outings. It’s consistency that’s his problem.
Anyone who has actually watched him…
He’s young, especially for a defender (two and a half years younger than Cameron, for example), and he will make the occasional bad judgment call, such as the PK he gave up in the Gold Cup (which is frustrating considering his intelligence), but to me he is the most underrated player in the pool.
This is especially true of people who think exclusively in terms of imposing destroyers. What Ream has is the potential to be an almost “total football” type of defender, where the CB has as much a role in the offense as the full backs. (If you don’t think the game is trending that way, I suggest you read some Jonathan Wilson.) I don’t think it is by any means out of the question that he makes the 2014 squad. I just about guarantee that he will be starting on the 2018 squad.
I like Ream, hopefully he stays in the starting 11 at Bolton…CB is brutally unforgiving, one mental lapse can ruin nearly 90 minutes of solid play. If he can stay on the field he’ll be in the mix. I always thought BB brought him in too early, without benefit of enough professional experience.
I honestly think Shea would have done well at a Swansea or Sunderland. Small club with dedicated fans and squad rotation and attacking spirit.
Liverpool up 2-0 in the first 35mins thanks to Henderson and Suarez.
Then Suarez nice pass from Sturridge. Beautiful Norwich may be in for a rough day.
In case anyone else is wondering what “UniMas” is, I believe it’s the new name for Telefutura.
Telefutura, ahora es Unimas.
Jordan Henderson just scored a goal. I’m rubbing my eyes oh shit.
Any NEWS on the supposed Brek Shea transfer? I suppose some one Brekognized his skill and upside.
Yo Ives, what’s up?
the only place I see this is twellman’s twitter. I hope it’s true though
Brekognized…..nicely put.
Some other outlets are suggesting Stoke.
Did he get his Norwegian passport? Also, Stoke could use him today.