Four games remain in the English Premier League season and if Chelsea is going to have any chance of catching Manchester United atop the standings, the Blues will likely have to win every one of them.
The first of the four comes today in the form of a stiff test from London rival Tottenham, which is trying to do it's on catching up by closing the four-point gap behind Manchester City for fourth place. A tie or loss would likely be a crucial blow to either team's chances of catching their Manchester-based targets.
Saturday's schedule of action has plenty of intrigue, from Leeds United's dying quest to earn a League Championship playoff spot against fellow playoff contender Burnley, to Clint Dempsey's chance to build on his mid-week brace against Sunderland.
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
7:45am- Fox Soccer Plus- Leeds United vs. Burnley
9:30am- GolTV- Borussia Dortmund vs. Nurnberg
10am- FoxSoccer.tv- Blackpool vs. Stoke City
10am- ESPN2- Sunderland vs. Fulham
10am- Fox Soccer Channel- West Bromwich Albion vs. Aston Villa
10am- Fox Soccer Plus- Wigan vs. Everton
Noon- ESPN3.com- Real Madrid vs. Real Zaragoza
Noon- Fox Soccer Plus- AC Cesena vs. Inter Milan
12:30pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Chelsea vs. Tottenham
12:30pm- ESPN3.com- Bayern Munich vs. Schalke 04
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Lens vs. Lorient
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Lille vs. Arles
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Stade Rennes vs. Bordeaux
1pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Sochaux vs. Nancy
2pm- GolTV- Real Sociedad vs. Barcelona
2pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Blackpool vs. Stoke City (Delayed)
2:45pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Napoli vs. Genoa
3pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Paris St. Germain vs. Valenciennes
4pm- ESPN3.com- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Atletico Madrid
4pm- Direct Kick- Philadelphia Union vs. San Jose Earthquakes
4pm- GolTV- Sao Paulo vs. Santos (Delayed)
5pm- Fox Soccer Channel- AC Cesena vs. Inter Milan (Delayed)
7:20pm- GolTV- Envigado vs. Millonarios
7:30pm- MSG- New York Red Bulls vs. Sporting Kansas City
7:30pm- Direct Kick- Columbus Crew vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
8pm- Telemundo- Chivas Guadalajara vs. Monterrey
8pm- Galavision- Pachuca vs. Necaxa
9pm- Direct Kick- Colorado Rapids vs. Chicago Fire
9:45pm- Telefutura- San Luis vs. Cruz Azul
10pm- Direct Kick- Seattle Sounders vs. Toronto FC
10pm- Galavision- Atlante vs. Toluca
10:30pm- Direct Kick- Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake
10:30pm- Direct Kick- Chivas USA vs. New England Revolution
Did you see the mistake?
It’s one thing to harass the ref to get a card, but when the ref blows it..
1. Tottenham aren’t trying to claim some moral high ground in regards to how football is played and how the club is run.
2. They haven’t done this every time the ref’s blown his whistle.
3. The linesman got this call very wrong, and wasn’t in position to make the call in the first place.
I’m a bit confused now…
Tottenham players are rabidly surrounding the official and not a single person on here is condemning them.
Wait? What is that you say? It’s only a problem when Barcelona does it?
Gomes pulls a Robert Green. But was the ball really all the way across the line. We need Goal Line Technology! FIFA are you listening??!?
What a joke..
Terrible mistake by Gomes, but its even more terrible that the title race and champions league race will be decided by something that could so easily be reviewed..
The excuse that “human error” is part of the game disgusts me..
Tim Howard to Tottenham?
You’re reading way too much into it.
Every player takes a different amount of time to acclimate.
It could be Villa think MB will be much better next year now that he has had time to acclimate. In comparative terms Bradley is young and cheap and perhaps they see him as a good investment for next year.
Or it could be they think he is crap in which case why bother saying anything? If he has no possibilty of a future with Villa they wouldn’t bother with this charade.
What this is all about is Houllier’s health.
Until his status going forward is determined, they want to keep all options open.
Gomes let’s another ball slip through his legs, he stops the ball before it crosses the line (barely), but the goal is given eventually, and wrongly.
If only there was a way we could have reviewed this decision…
Gomes strikes again…ball wasn’t over the line but what was Gomes doing!!!
About time for goal line technology…that was a horrible decision.
Fair enough.
Although, what I took from Mcallister’s statement was that these 3 or 4 guys might be able to contribute to the team but because of Villa’s crap season, the coaches couldn’t risk them not panning out. Thats not the same as “we think these players suck”.
Your point about the whole season is a good one though. If MB was valued enough to have a future at AV you’d think they’d give him more time than he’s gotten.
“they clearly don’t believe he’s good enough to play and be worth anything to the squad. He even admits that.”
Well thank you for the link but I don’t see how you got that from the article.
McAllister’s statement could have been written for him by a lawyer. It was clearly worded to reassure everyone and not offend anyone.
Your interpretation says more about how you feel about it that they do. In other words, they want to keep all their options open.
Or it could be that he is saying they are not in a position table-wise to take chances with a player they think has potential to be good for them, but who is not an established and proven part of their team dynamic.
Brilliant strike from Sandro! Well outside the 18, High to the keeper’s right, Cech got to it but couldn’t deflect it away. 1-0 Tottenham.
Sight of the day: Sandro is celebrating his first ever EPL goal and Redknapp is giving him hell for getting too far forward. Brilliant.
The season as a whole…
And he said that the only way Bradley would play is if the team was in a position where results were not as important.
That doesn’t even require an inference.
Drogba hit nailed a looong free kick off the crossbar. Gomes probably had it covered to be fair, and may have touched it. Good save if he did.
You sound like a real peach.
Danny Williams played at LB for Freiburg
“they clearly don’t believe he’s good enough to play and be worth anything to the squad. He even admits that.”
How did you infer that from the article? Serious question.
Tottenham vs Chelsea about to start. Should be a brilliant game, both teams need to win.
Usually, they think it is Donovan. Few foreigners (maybe outside of France) seem to realize that it is Bocanegra.
The team is currently sitting near the bottom of the midtable. If Bradley cannot make the bench consistently right now, why would he suddenly become a starter next year? Villa will bring in midfielders during the transfer window.
Rest? hes a footballer, he should be playing…
if MB stays at Villa you’ll see a lot of him next year….they have a lot of skilled experienced players in MF and I suspect a few of them wont be there next year…think of this spring as an extended audition…
Yeah.
It’s all fluff. This sounds similar to participation speeches I gave about all the bench players on the kids team I coached.
“They had a great attitude… were really showing progress… should come back for next year… etc, etc.”
McAllister said “he has captained his country” — which he has, in the closing minutes against Brazil last August. But I agree that all these nice words will mean something when he gets on the pitch.
Clark went off in the 20th minute with a claf injury.
In other BL news, Hannover loses to BMG giving Bayern hope for the 3rd CL spot. Dortmund wins und ist Meister!
“We are aware of these things. There are three or four players who we feel that if we have got ourselves into a better position earlier in the season then certain people would get more game time.
“But we’re still very much aware that we need to keep this run going and, when a team does well, you don’t want to be making big changes or changing things for the sake of it.”
From those quotes, you can all but surmise that Bradley will not be returning. No matter what this assistant coach wants to believe. He can say everything he wants about Bradley being a professional person, but at the end of the day they clearly don’t believe he’s good enough to play and be worth anything to the squad. He even admits that.
Wonder where that came from…
Fulham domination at Sunderland
Tough day for Yanks in Bundesliga. Hannover lose to BMG, which by virtue of winning and Frankfurt’s loss jumps them ahead on points in the relegation battle.
I’m not even sure McAllister knows who he’s talking about as he states this about MB, “he is captain of his country, don’t forget”
Just read the Sky article on Bradley.
I don’t think even the assistant manager believes what he is saying. Through all the responses, he just continues on about Bradley’s attitude and how much he acts like a professional, and then just slips in a “oh yeah, he’s a good player.”
Attitude doesn’t get you onto the pitch. Skill does.
yeah he balled that one up but good.
Finally a chance to watch Fulham on TV, and Dempsey not in the 18. Sad day.
Not yet, but it sounded like a straightforward finish.
What a crap pass by Gudjohsen to flub a breakaway chance by Fulham.
Got a link for Adu’s score?
Fulham on ESPN… but no Deuce (hammy).
West Ham plays tomorrow @ 11 against Man City
Adu scored.
When is West Ham playing?
Bradley Watch: Michael Bradley has found his way back to the bench this week as they take on West Brom. Could some time on the pitch finally be in the cards today?
An illuminating piece on Bradley’s possible future at Villa answers many of the questions and puts to rest much of the speculation that has occurred on these boards regarding his relationship with Houllier as well as his training ground form.
http://www.expressandstar.com/sport/aston-villa-fc/2011/04/27/michael-bradley-could-stay-at-villa/
Saw a skysports story on Villa and Bradley – http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_6901206,00.html
I’m hoping Hannover don’t think BMG will be a cake walk. They are fighting for their league lives and did beat the league leaders last week.
It appears as though Bradley is back on the bench today. Also, it appears that Dempsey is getting some much deserved rest today, as he is not in the 18.
Lichaj involved in a bit of a dustup in the Leeds-Burnley game as a high boot to the back of a teammate angered a couple of Leeds players (including Lichaj) who began the big shoving and shouting match pretty much between the full sides as ref looked on. Yellow carded.
Predicto: A little birdy is telling me that Hannover will NOT have a problem with BMG. Although, as a Bayern fan, I hope that the best they can pull off is a draw (only because of Dolo).
Buddle starts 2nd half in FC Ingolstadt 04 vs FC Erzgebirge Aue. Not getting many touches though.
How about Cherundolo & Hannover 96 vs Borussia M’gladbach in match to keep Hannover in 3rd in the Bundesliga.