The first match-up of true English Premier League title contenders takes place today as defending champion Manchester United takes on arch-rival Chelsea in the weekend's top match (11am, Fox Soccer Channel).
Manchester United has been virtually unstoppable in league play, with Wayne Rooney running rampant as the spear-head of United's outstanding attack. Chelsea will look to slow Rooney down, while also pushing Manchester United's defense with the likes of Juan Mata, Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Torres.
Before we get to United-Chelsea, you can enjoy a good warm-up in the form of Tottenham-Liverpool, as Brad Friedel looks to stop a Reds attack led by Luis Suarez.
Want some soccer from teams outside England? Look no further than Italy, where Napoli takes on AC Milan in a battle of teams coming off strong Champions League performances. In France, rivals Lyon and Marseille do battle as Marseille looks for its first victory. In Germany, Manuel Neuer faces his former club as Bayern Munich takes on Schalke 04.
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
6:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus - Atalanta vs. Palermo
6:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - PSV Eindhoven vs. Ajax
8:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Tottenham vs. Liverpool
9 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Deportes/ESPN3.com - Siena vs. Juventus
9 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Udinese vs. Fiorentina
9 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Catania vs. Cesena
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Fulham vs. Manchester City
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Sunderland vs. Stoke City
10 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Real Zaragoza vs. Espanyol
10:55 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Evian Thonon Gaillard vs. Paris-St. Germain
11 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Manchester United vs. Chelsea
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Stade Rennes vs. Nancy
11:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Schalke 04 vs. Bayern Munich
12 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Atletico Madrid vs. Racing Santander
1 p.m. - Telemundo - Pumas UNAM vs. Toluca
1:15 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Feirense vs. FC Porto
2pm- FOX– Manchester United vs. Chelsea (Tape Delayed)
2 p.m. - GOLTV - Levante vs. Real Madrid
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Napoli vs. AC Milan
3 p.m. - Azteca America/ESPN Deportes - Tijuana vs. Estudiantes Tecos
3 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Lyon vs. Marseille
4 p.m. - GOLTV - Athletic Bilbao vs. Real Betis
7 p.m. - Azteca America/ESPN Deportes - Morelia vs. Queretaro
Jesus. It’s five games in and people are predicting an undefeated season for United?! Were you all doing the same after Chelsea won its first five last year? United will lose, they may very well not finish top of table, just like Chelsea last year.
Pre-season pretenders, Liverpool and Arsenal, do the math.
Perhaps Jozy has a medical condition. When you can’t go 90 for so many clubs in more than one year, there might be a medical cause.
What table are you looking at?
so anyone giving odds on Man U going undefeated this season?
anyone else giving odds on Arsenal getting relegated?
Adrian I have seen your previous posts about Bradley on this thread. I assume you are not a fan at all? I did not see the game, so I will not comment on his performance. However, per your previous comments do you have preconceptions or bias towards the player which may cloud your judgement?
adrian you are a total idiot with your sarcasm and stupid remarks…bradley has beeb with chievo less than three weeks, one and a half weeks was during the fifa break when they had limited practices..your comments show a total lack of facts.
Both the BBC and ESPN report the penalty was given up by Steven Caldwell. Spector off in the 74th.
Torres had 2 misses. Lashed one over the bar from inside the box earlier in the 2nd half. Not nearly as bad, but worth noting. He’s certainly fun to watch when he’s on his game. Nani and Young are amazing. There’s no reason this squad shouldn’t win every match the rest of the season.
Fulham’s second half was great to watch. Great effort by Deuce throughout. Still curious how Ruiz will fit in if he becomes a starter at some point.
Bradley looked just fine to be honest. In the midfield he was a presence and distributed fairly well. One errant long ball and one perfect cross from the right wing that was met with difficult volley that went wide. Defensively, that last goal was not his fault, it was a great goal on a super cross over the back line… tough for anyone to defend.
His playing time should continue to improve off the bench in upcoming matches until he proves otherwise with a dynamic performance or there’s an injury.
Chelsea responded well in the second half I thought. Lots of goals left on the table for both sides in this one
cheers
He probably wants that back.
Sadly the media will use Torres as the scapegoat again despite Torres being outstanding up to that miss.
I disagree. I thought Anelka was pretty good, even apart from his 20/20 through ball.
Jinx. 🙂
seriously, as a neutral, I was jazzed to see Torres w an open net. Dang – that has to be one of the biggest flubs of all time.
And Fernando misses in front of an empty net…
Oh….. My….. Word……… Fernando Torres………………
Ives…….. that is going on your Must-See list right? Right?
MWAHAHAH Torres is lethal all right…to his own dignity, self esteem, ability…
wow, two times now for Torres he does everything but finish. that was a horror open goal gaffe. wow
Hernandez just went from sandwich to burrito to ceviche.
Torres is the only Chelsea player to show up today, he has been lethal.
he just got cut down hard by Cole. that one’s gonna leave a mark
and another one right there too, yes?
More like a carne asada burrito but I digress.
Maybe he can play left back.lol
See the earlier post in this thread about the BORG.
just saw the replay…Rooney slipped on his plant foot and ended up on his arse
Wow. Some of those folks are just nasty. I’d love to see Edu pull an Eto’o on those fans.
This free-kick call was absurd, if ultimately meaningless.
The image of the day has to be Jose Boswinga and Petr Cech making a Mexican sandwhich out of Javier Hernandez on a corner kick.
@Lord_Sugar: Torres scores now down to 12.5m per goal . Not bad value
Was he playing center back?
How many suspicious refereeing decisions can go United’s way in one game??lol maybe they do play by a separate rule book.
Great result for Fulham, I have to say Zamora was probably Fulham’s most dangerous player.. Dembele also played very well, but Dempsey looked good, I think he had three shots on goal and one forced a brilliant save from Hart. Great team effort
Rooney PK miss blasted wide right. thought it was a soft penalty anyway, so maybe that was justice
Fernando Torres que Golazo!
all true, but there was no defender around him at the penalty spot…inexcusable
We need a sarcasm font.
And with that being said, Bradley has been with the team for almost a month and has seen 20ish minutes of action where he did not play well and they lost.
Not to jump to conclusions but this looks nearly identical to the way things played out at Aston Villa.
Spector apparently had a nightmare outing getting a penalty to start off a scoring spree by Southampton and leaving the Blues in the dust. Subbed off in 2nd half.
Well good – unfortunately blog posts and emails don’t portray sarcasm very well; which I have found out the hard way.
I hope Bradley can make a go of it in Serie A. Jones with Schalke and Gooch with Sporting. A lot of hope; not sure if there will be a lot of results
I am a panicker by the way.
Fulham with a comeback 2-2 tie v ManCity. Dembele & Dempsey looked inventive & dangerous the entire game. I liked it!
It’s been a trend for years now. Where have you been?
If it doesn’t happen, I’ll be available in 2013 to make sure it does.
Lol sarcastic.
I should remember to end my post with a haha or a lol.
As for Bradley’s play, he did look poor, but that could be because he was playing left mid.
Both Terry and Lampard look terribly slow. Ramirez cannot finish, and should not be playing up forward in attack. United may end this title race by October. They’re already 8-10 points clear of pre-season pretenders.
Chelsea was supposed to be the team that challenged United and City. There are essentially two teams with hope for the title.
that’s not what I saw; Bradley came on in the 70th minute – the Chievo scored to tie; then in extra time a yellow card was issued to a defender for a foul and the other team scored to win the game.
Were you being sarcastic, a panicker, or a joker trying to get a rise out of the board?
To be fair, an unlucky deflection left him with an easy tap in.
aaaaand no point watching this game anymore.
Rooney unmarked on the penalty spot…incredible. yes, he scored
Done and Dusted! Man U up 3-0