Chelsea and Tottenham are London rivals heading in opposite directions these days, and Saturday their Derby clash will determine whether that continues and they cross paths in the Premier League standings.
Tottenham is sliding these days, winless in four matches and sitting in fourth place after seeing their once comfortable hold on third place erased by surging Arsenal. Now Spurs face Chelsea, which have benefited from a coaching change that has them playing with some renewed confidence (even if they are coming off a loss to Manchester City). The Blues will be at home and will look to keep Tottenham's road woes going (Spurs haven't won a road game in league play since December).
There are plenty of quality matches on tap, including Swansea's clash with Everton, and Bolton's relegation battle vs. Blackburn, the first match for the Trotters since Fabrice Muamba nearly died of a heart attack on the field in an FA Cup quarterfinal vs. Tottenham.
In Italy, AC Milan take on Roma in what should be an entertaining clash, while the exciting U.S. Under-23 national team returns to action tonight against rival Canada in Olympic Qualifying action.
If you will be watching today's soccer 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
8:45 a.m. – ESPN2/ESPN3.com – Chelsea vs. Tottenham
10:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Bayern Munich vs. Hannover 96
11 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel - Arsenal vs. Aston Villa
11 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv - Liverpool vs. Wigan Athletic
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv – Bolton vs. Blackburn
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Norwich City vs. Wolves
11 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv - Sunderland vs. Queens Park Rangers
11 a.m. – FoxSoccer.tv - Swansea City vs. Everton
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Reading vs. Blackpool
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer.tv – Aberdeen vs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle
1 p.m. – MLS Live/Direct Kick - Toronto FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
1 p.m. – GOLTV - Mallorca vs. Barcelona
1 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv/ESPN3.com - AC Milan vs. Roma
1:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Stoke City vs. Manchester City
2 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv - Ajaccio vs. Lorient
2 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Brest vs. Nancy
2 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv - Evian Thonon Gaillard vs. Lille
2 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Lyon vs. Sochaux
2 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv - Montpellier vs. St. Etienne
2 p.m. – FoxSoccer.tv - Nice vs. Marseille
3 p.m. - GOLTV/ESPN3.com - Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad
3:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/ESPN3.com - Palermo vs. Udinese
4 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Columbus Crew vs. Montreal Impact
4 p.m. – MLS Live/Direct Kick - New England Revolution vs. Portland Timbers
4 p.m. - FoxSoccer.tv – Valenciennes vs. Stade Rennes
4:30 p.m. – Telemundo/CONCACAF.com - Cuba vs. El Salvador
5 p.m. – ESPN3.com - Getafe vs. Valencia
7 p.m. - Mun2/CONCACAF.com/Universal Sports Network - USA vs. Canada
7 p.m. - Telefutura - Monterrey vs. Estudiantes Tecos
8:30 p.m. – MLS Live/Direct Kick - Chicago Fire vs. Philadelphia Union
9 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs. Chivas USA
9 p.m. - Telefutura - Santos Laguna vs. Queretaro
9 p.m. - Telemundo - Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Toluca
10 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Vancouver Whitecaps vs. D.C. United
10:30 p.m. - Galavision - San Luis vs. Atlante
Shoudn’t that read: They ‘ave struggled ever since ‘Arry for England ‘eated up.
Crouch has always been very skilled with the ball. People don’t notice because of his height.
They have struggled ever since ‘Arry for England heated up
Only watched some, but that’s a reasonable assessment. Lots of bad passing in the final third, SJ had two late-ish goals on the counter. But I meant more big-picture, that they’ve had such good support, and they seem to be building up a team the right way. Not that they can’t still have a good season, but this is hardly a dream start. And now Santos will eviscerate them on Wed.
Spurs salvage two points from last five games.
Wondo with the brace in SJ’s 3-0 thumping at Toronto.
Come on you ‘Quakes!!!!
Agree, Macca is 100% better than anybody in MLS.
His open disagreements with the play by play men are refreshing.
there *off target shots
I didn’t see the game, so take my comment with a huge grain of salt, but only one shot on target seems, despite the large amount of possession, to point to a rather toothless attack. Is this correct? Or were there are target shots near misses/good scoring opportunities?
Overrated?
Compared to whom? Harkes? Twellman? Lalas? Wynalda? Balboa? Those guys were second or third rate compared to him.
I’ve never heard of him talking about his “greatness” he was but he has certainly been around enough of it.
Whatever you think of his commentary, none of the other commentators on ESPN or FOX can match his playing record or even come close. The list of great managers and players he has played for or with is pretty compelling.
Barça instead of complaining about the ref after a questionable ejection, go on to win 2-0. Madrid’s turn to answer.
I can’t help but feel bad for Toronto. Even when they do everything right, they get crushed by san jose.
WTF?! Peter Crouch?!
I’m in shock.
Redbulls game is tomorrow, Sunday.
Red Bull game on ESPN @4?
Who said anything about Taylor Twellman? As far as i’m concerned, Ian is one of the best in the business, regardless of sport, just this morning he and Steve got on my nerves.
Villa absolutely toothless today. Zero shots on goal and 25% possession not to mention 5 bookings. A disgrace. Down 2-0 and they sit back and pack the 18.
and the free kick leads to arsenal’s 3rd.
but that was a GREAT kick by Arteta
…and gets a yellow
Lichaj comes on for Villa in the 78th minute against Arsenal.
Hannover deserved a point against Bayern. Dolo had a nice game against the tough mark, Ribery.
and fortunate…attackers fail to put away the 2 open chances a game he affords them.
The exact opposite of what happened last year.
He’s doing pretty well. Unconvincing in the air, good with the ball and in the tackle — more or less standard.
It’s been a good forty-five minutes for Bolton. If results stand, they’re a point clear of the drop zone.
Anyone watching Bolton? How’s Tim Ream doing?
On the bright side, the AV fullbacks are getting embarrassed by Arsenal. Could be a good opportunity for Lichaj, who is on the bench.
Churundy got abused down the flank by Ribery leading to Bayern’s first goal scored by Kroos…Olic got the start today to give Gomez some rest, but he has missed quite a few wide open in front of the goal. IS Olic really coming to MLS?
Unfortunately, I think that statement could apply to several players out there today.
Good point (for spurs), terrible game.
Only*
Sturridge was fairly useless today
nice. 🙂
Ya, I think that’s why Macca is getting on my nerves so much. Waking up at 5:30 to hear someone b!tch is ok even when my woman is doing it, and she’s a lot better looking than Steve.
And as I write this, Adebayor with a scintillating chance cleared by Cahill, and then Bale hits the post off a corner.
Maybe McBanamanabanana (that what Khan calls him-?) will offer some praise.
I don’t think I would be so annoyed if I hadn’t have woke up before six my time for this game.
Here we go….
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
not so much on the fascinating part 🙂
And here we go. Both Drogba and Torres will work so hard, they both pass well, and all that’s needed is to learn to work off of each other.
Mata off the post!! Come on you blues!! We need the points haha
I think for this game I agree with you. Chelsea and Tottenham both look ‘asleep’ as the commentators remark (though understand how the constant criticism annoys folks).
This game IS a fascinating midfield battle. But you really have to be a lover of positioning and tackling to appreciate it. (and even then it’s difficult)
Agreed
you would prefer taylor twellman and his impressive cv? I’ll take this commentary team any day of the weak over any alternative on American tv.
Eh, I kind of like that these guys express the frustrations that viewers might be having and that they’re not afraid to criticize rather than sycophantically praise.
Ya, Steve McManaman always tests my patience. Newsflash man, you weren’t even that great as a player. You may have played for 2 great clubs, but you were pretty overrated.
I didn’t think it was possible for Spurs to look less dangerous in the second half, but now they seem to have pulled Bale into the middle. Now we have Modric and VdV trying to play the same position, Adebayor pulling out 30-40 yards on the wing to get the ball – I just don’t get these tactics.
I guess it doesn’t much matter where they play on the pitch if they can’t string two passes together. This is an amazingly frustrating game. Hope there is a goal to open it up.
What is interesting is that Chelsea can keep Bale and Modric so uninvolved.
These two teams have so much talent on the pitch but they are both very afraid of getting zero points.
Yeah, the color guy is really tiring.
I agree, I just hate the fact that the commentators keep b!tching about it, Steve and Ian have been known to get on my nerves though.
And the whistle blows the minute it picks up. Amazing timing….
yes, yes it is.
Hmmm….this Spurs-Chelsea game is awful so far.