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)
Arsenal lost!
Arsene Wenger is an arrogant fool. He had the chance to upgrade at center back and GK in the transfer window and chose to save his money. Now his center back and GK screwup has cost them a trophy. Arsene, your pocketbook may be full, but your trophycase is looking pretty bare.
Arsenal = LOL
Anyone that thinks the Carling Cup doesn’t matter, needs to watch the reactions in the game.
Can we buy a new goalkeeper now? Almunia, Flubbianski and now this. Ankinfeev?
Arsenal will be holding GK tryouts this week.
what a colossal f*ck up by Arsenal. easiest goal ever for Martins. awful
Ben Foster is playing out of his mind
Bendtner for Van Persie???
How about in a Whataburger parking lot? I think your choice would switch.
Wow, Hughes and Mancini should’ve just thrown down.
PASS THE DAMN BALL DEMBELE
PASS THE BALL
Doing something occasionally magical is encouraged, but he passes maybe 1 out of every 6 or 7 times he touches the ball.
Gudjohnson is a huge waste of space right now. He is actually hindering the attack.
RVP scores on a volley and hurts himself. Just amazing
Me again, sometimes being selfish is not being creative.
Dembele having in the box with a person at the top of the arc and what does he do? Fire a shot at Joe Hart.
yes! great goal from RVP after Wilshere hits the crossbar. very nice
Let’s see some cards for City, yeah? It feels like every 30 seconds sees a Fulham player being shoved to the ground.
Oh, and Hangelaand is a beast.
Roberto Martinez wife = boner material
just coming back now from injury doesn’t excuse his play earlier in the year. Occasionally he can be a bright spot but more often than not he’s poor
nice goal from Brum. and of course it’s a set piece that beats Arsenal
Maybe if Toure had Mike Ditka fighting with him he might be able to whoop up on the Deuce!
Come on ref, protect Dempsey! This is really out of hand. He is taken out every single time.
Of course you would give it to Dempsey SBI why is that shocking? Grow up in Africa and lets see if your trailer park cuts it. Slums of Abidjan vs Texas; yeah I’ll take Ivory Coast all day.
Balotelli is the Nani of Manchester City: incapable of working with anyone but themselves, and generally disliked by the entire team.
Sure you fought him before?
The picture quality has gotten a lot better now. I retract my previous comment.
Dempsey reminds me of the type of guy who gets really fired up and loves to fight but always ends up taking a beating. No actual fight skills. Something to be said for not being scared and ability to take a beating willingly. : )
Ives you mean the snood doesn’t scream MMA fighter? Your crazy
Great buildup from Fulham, and what a finish. That ball was really coming in fast.
he was VERY lucky the play was ruled offside
Duff!!!!
and should be been sent off
FSC has a very loose definition of HD. The Carling Cup game looks awful, especially compared to ESPN2’s City/Fulham game.
Goal duff they are fired up….
DUFF!!! COYW!!!!!!!
Szcyesny almost gives up a PK is the 1st minute.
I dunno about that Toure v Dempsey battle. Sure, Dempsey’s got an edge with the whole “I grew up in a trailer park,” thing, but yaya grew up in f’n Africa. seriously dude would drop skinny Demps. He’s just being patient with him.
(SBI-Sorry man but I’ll give Dempsey the edge against anybody who wears a snood as much as Toure does.)
Some real moronic comments today. From the anti-gay slurs to the simply trollish comments, I’ve got one thing to say.
Get a life.
We’re here to talk football. If you don’t want to talk football, leave. If you want crack jokes about people you don’t know, leave.
He’s coming back from injury and has only been thrown in because Sidwell is injured… otherwise he would still be recovering
I think that’s the opposite of being ones bitch.
So you’ve gotten into a fight with either of them to know that Dempsey would take Yaya? Gosh the blinders are out today. Yaya won’t get in a fight with Dempsey. His 200,000 pounds per week would do the fighting.
How is he being a bitch? He’s not taking sh*t from anyone and standing up for himself
Relax both of you he is a defensive midfielder and just came back from injury. plus its first half.
ah big man, but hes a softy
Dempsey has opted to take on the Man City eleven all by himself. The man is fired up!!!
Dempsey is the last person in the premiership I would want to be in a fight with. Yaya Toure is just a big guy, Dempsey is an animal.
Jokes aside you must be blinded by your love for Dempsey to think he can take on Yaya Toure; good luck.
Ok and why don’t you get a life. And maybe STFU with the potentially offensive anti-gay remarks.