Arsenal's long wait to bring silverware back to Emirates Stadium could come to an end Sunday, as the Gunners face Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Arsenal, which hasn't won a trophy since capturing the 2005 FA Cup, will be a bit shorthanded, as Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott have been ruled out of the final with injuries.
Elsewhere, Clint Dempsey could break Brian McBride's single-season goal record for an American in the Premier League with a tally against Manchester City; PSV Eindhoven and Ajax hook up in a battle of Dutch powers; Ligue 1 leader Lille squares off with Lyon, which is fresh off a UEFA Champions League draw with Real Madrid; and Sao Paulo and Palmeiras clash in a meeting of Brazilian titans.
If you will be watching the Carling Cup final or any of Sunday's games, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (TV schedule is after the jump):
SUNDAY'S SOCCER ON TV
8:30am – Fox Soccer Channel – West Ham vs. Liverpool
8:30am – ESPN3.com – PSV Eindhoven vs. Ajax
9am – ESPN3.com – Cagliari vs. Lazio
9am – ESPN3.com – AS Roma vs. Parma
9am – ESPN3.com – Palermo vs. Udinese
10am – ESPN2/ESPN3.com – Manchester City vs. Fulham
11am – Fox Soccer Channel – Arsenal vs. Birmingham City (Carling Cup Final)
11am – DirecTV – Levante vs. Osasuna
11am – FoxSoccer.tv – Nancy vs. Olympique Marseille
11am – FoxSoccer.tv – PSG vs. Toulouse
11:30am – GolTV – Werder Bremen vs. Bayer Leverkusen
1pm – ESPN3.com – Racing Santander vs. Villarreal
1pm – Telemundo – UNAM Pumas vs. Estudiantes Tecos
2pm – GolTV – Sao Paulo vs. Palmeiras
2:45pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Sampdoria vs. Inter Milan
3pm – ESPN3.com – Athletic Bilbao vs. Valencia
3pm – Fox Soccer Plus – Lille vs. Lyon
4pm – CONCACAF.com/ESPN3.com – Jamaica vs. Panama (CONCACAF U-17 third-place game)
5pm – Univision – Club America vs. Toluca
7pm – CONCACAF.com/ESPN3.com – United States vs. Canada (CONCACAF U-17 championship)
7pm – Fox Soccer Channel – West Ham vs. Liverpool (Delayed)
And you Dempsey is your idol right? I’ll take the African all day.
Guzan? Please he can’t even get time at Aston Villa. We’ll go after goalkeepers from Germany or Spain before Arsene should consider a guy who is not a starter.
Safe to say this season isn’t playing out how anyone imagined. And so I expect more wacky results. Since Arsenal has been slapped down by Birmingham, they should by all rights now go out and beat Barca, again. Birmingham, now fully content having put a trophy in the cabinet, will be relegated. Eventually the English FA will understand that all these injuries and the lack of a winter break in the EPL may give the smaller teams a better chance of getting a result but ultimately hurt the product on the field. Seems obvious, but money talks and no one cares about the health of the England squad until 2012 and 2014.
So, is it too late to jump on the “no trophies for Arsenal” bandwagon?
I don’t know how they could feel confident in any tense game at this point. It must be hard to win when you’re waiting for the next fk-up.
The snood is to prevent garotte attacks.
Udinese (the greatest team since Fulham) and hes from Chile.
Playmaker = Yaya Toure’s dad.
Lol that’s pumas
lol @ Bridesmaids.
Ugh, Jack Wilshere killed me at the end. Makes you remember that he’s only 19 and probably wasn’t totally prepared for the epic experience that is a cup final at Wembley (he played very, very well, though).
Pics or gtfo.
Who’s he play for? Where’s he from?
lol
No doubt that Arsenal has been held back by their goalie problems. They could do a lot better. Maybe they should be scouting Guzan….though I’m a big fan of Akinfeyeyv.
Never mind – wrong team – excuse the brain freeze.
What’s up with Jonathan Bornstein at Tigres? Didn’t get into the game last week and not even on the bench this week (per Soccernet)? I thought he played fairly well in the games he started, and the team has been winning.