A big snowstorm hit England on Saturday, threatening to jeopardize the slate of matches set for today, but the big headliner between Chelsea and Manchester United will go on as planned, and it will serve as the marquee match of a busy day in the soccer world.
While the Super Bowl dominates the American sports landscape today, soccer fans here will have plenty to choose from for their viewing pleasures, topped off with the big Chelsea-United clash. The Blues are at home and need a win to solidify their place in the English Premier League's top four, while Manchester United must win to keep pace with Manchester City for first place.
if you think Chelsea-Man United is the day's only big match, think again. There are quality showdowns all over the globe. In Italy, Juventus will look to stay unbeaten with a win against Siena, while AC Milan faces a much tougher task, needing to beat a tough Napoli side to try and close the gap on Juve.
In Spain, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla square off, while Brazil brings us a juicy clash between Neymar-led Santos against Palmeiras.
In Mexico, DaMarcus Beasley and Puebla go up against Edgar Castillo, Joey Corona, Greg Garza and Club Tijuana in the day's match featuring the most Americans.
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 SOCCER ON TV
6:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/ESPN3.com - Genoa vs. Lazio
6:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Ajax vs. Utrecht
7:15 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Derby County vs. Nottingham Forest (POSTPONED)
8:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Newcastle vs. Aston Villa
9 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/ESPN3.com - Juventus vs. Siena
9 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Palermo vs. Atalanta
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - SC Freiburg vs. Werder Bremen
11 a.m. - Fox - Chelsea vs. Manchester United
11 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Sochaux vs. Lille
12 p.m. - GOLTV - Sevilla vs. Villarreal
1 p.m. - Univision - Toluca vs. Pachuca
1 p.m. - Fox Deportes/Azteca America - Puebla vs. Tijuana
1:45 p.m. - DirecTV - Real Zaragoza vs. Rayo Vallecano
2 p.m. - GOLTV - Santos vs. Palmeiras
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - AC Milan vs. Napoli
3 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Marseille vs. Lyon
3:30 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Atletico Madrid vs. Valencia
5 p.m. - Univision - America vs. Tigres UANL
Chicharito!!!
Please take Malouda off, please. This is painful.
6 minutes.
Add on: I think he handled that superbly to be honest. At first it appeared that he really messed it up, but after the replay not so much.
That was a point of real quality defending from Evans who was able to cut Torres off since the ball was bouncing. And then he did a remarkable job of making Torres pull it back with his lunge.
Romeu looks nervous. I don’t think he’s completed a pass yet. 3 TOs.
Torres, take a rip son!
Actually, after seeing the replay he did well with that, Evans closed down quick enough to force him to come inside.
I’ve never read more haters on SBI than today. Rooney’s gonna finish this hattrick in moments.
Well he did make contact so it was Webbs choice, for me it wasn’t a pk.
Haters gonna Hate!!!
Who wants to bet if Man U is still down after 90 mins the stoppage time will 4-5 mins?
Nice.
Mighty ManU?
Come up for breathe. It was not a penalty.
very cool.
Terrible call. Initially, i thought he was booking him for a dive.
Sacha Kljestan with a goal for Anderlecht today
That’s as clear a penalty as I’ve seen. He attempted a slide tackle and tripped the attacker. 4 penalties in 2 matches just shows the extent teams have to go to in order to stop the Mighty ManU.
Actually it was wrong.
It was a dive. Sure there was contact, but Welbeck was going down on his own.
Mentally*
Oh yeah Howard Webb the United lover just starts handing out penalties like Pez. Hate this crook.
I am convinced the only reason Howard Webb is considered a good referee is because he is bald and looks the part. He is awful.
Oh here we go. Weak pk call but it wasn’t wrong either. Now we will see how memrally tough Chelsea are now.
Sigh. Not a dive but not a penalty either.
That is NOT a penalty. This is just crooked. 4 penalties in two games for United?
Yes, Chelsea won’t often be accused of making one too many passes…
Dude is a cancer to the offense. And then you’ve got Malouda the black hole on the other wing.
Results in Torres never touching the ball.
I see either Sturrige or Malouda coming off soon.
This game is some fun right now.
I am so not a Sturrige fan even he is occasionally useful. As noted above, immensely selfish.
Sturridge is ridiculously selfish. Jesus christ.
Make that 3-1
This 3-0 thrashing could not happen to a better team.
Random offensive explosion from Chelsea.
Sideshow Bob with the 3rd. Luiz’s header bounce off Rio?
Man De Gea has had 0 chance at any of these goals. 0.
What about the other six or seven times?
Wow, that IS SadButTrue
I am so deeply happy right now.
Did any else’s local Fox affiliate decide to not show the game? Here in CT they’re showing some lousy PetTV instead…
SBI’s version of Paul the Octopus.
Evra has really lost a step, just doesn’t have the defensive positioning that he used to.
Jeez, can you believe that? I oughta bash Chelsea players more often. 🙂
Mig, you are the ultimate jinx man hahaha. Like the other day when you ragged on Gibson (rightfully so) and he scored immediately after.
Great goal, great cross, and great finish. Maybe Torres should be a winger.
HOLY SH*T&$# WHAT A GOAL!!!!!!!!
TORRES TO MATA!!!
GOTY!!!!
Well, let’s be honest, Torres couldn’t kick a habit at this point.
Deuce played like a 2nd striker or cam although he was the only striker, that’s his game. Many passes were misplayed thinking he was going to run diagonally through the defense and open up the middle for a non-existent 2nd striker.
Thank you. Nobody ever talks about this… it’s always Torres this, Torres that.
Malouda is a turnover machine, and he kills everything that comes to his side.
This season, he has been so far off of the form of the last two seasons. Don’t know what his problem is, probably AVB’s tactics which are not really working (yet?).
Malouda is a black hole for Chelsea attacks. There’s little confidence among Chelsea attackers and they delay in making the run or pass instinctively.
I wish the announcer would stop saying that Cahill’s early foul could have been given a penalty. Even if it was called, it would have been a free kick, not a PK.