Manchester City has seen a once hefty lead atop the English Premier League evaporate and now the Cititzens find themselves in second place, trailing Manchester United by three points.
If City is going to stay in the playoffs race, they need a win tody against Sunday, a victory that won't come easy without Sergio Aguero, who is set to miss the match with an undisclosed injury.
Arsenal also holds a three-point, lead, but on third place in the Premier League. The Gunners can maintain or expand that lead with a victory today against London rival Queens Park Rangers, which is in a relegation fight and currently sits in the relegation zone.
In Spain, arguably the best match of the weekend features FC Barcelona against Athletic Bilbao. Lionel Messi is playing out of his mind, but Bilbao has also been playing outstanding soccer in the Europa League and should give the defending La La champions a tough test.
If you will be watching today's match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today's commentary is after the jump):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
7 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go - Motherwell vs. Rangers
9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Nurnberg vs. Bayern Munich
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Aston Villa vs. Chelsea
10 a.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go - Queens Park Rangers vs. Arsenal
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Everton vs. West Brom
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go – Fulham vs. Norwich City
10 a.m. – FoxSoccer2Go - Wigan Athletic vs. Stoke City
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Wolverhampton vs. Bolton
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - West Ham vs. Reading
10 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN3.com - Manchester City vs. Sunderland
12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - AC Milan vs. Catania
12 p.m. - GOLTV - Racing Santander vs. Granada
12 p.m. - DirecTV/Dish Network - Sporting Gijon vs. Real Zaragoza
12:25 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go - Blackpool vs. Southampton
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Auxerre vs. Valenciennes
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Bordeaux vs. Dijon
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Lorient vs. Evian Thonon Gaillard
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - St. Etienne vs. Nice
1 p.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Sochaux vs. Brest
2 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes – Osasuna vs. Real Madrid
2 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew
2:45 p.m. – Fox Soccer Channel - Parma vs. Lazio
4 p.m. – GOLTV - Barcelona vs. Athletic Bilbao
4 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - New York Red Bulls vs. Montreal Impact
4 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Philadelphia Union vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
4:15 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Benfica vs. Sporting Braga
6 p.m. - NBC Sports Network/Mun2 - Honduras vs. El Salvador
6:30 p.m. - ESPN Deportes/Azteca America - Cruz Azul vs. San Luis
7 p.m. - Telefutura - Queretaro vs. Puebla
8 p.m. - Telemundo - Mexico vs. Canada
9 p.m. – Telefutura - Tigres UANL vs. Morelia
10 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Seattle Sounders vs. San Jose Earthquakes
10 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Portland Timbers vs. Real Salt Lake
10:30 p.m. - Galavision - Atlas vs. Pumas UNAM
11 p.m. - NBC Sports Network - Los Angeles Galaxy vs. New England Revolution
11 p.m. - Telefutura - Atlante vs. Jaguares
Norwich looking good with possession and attack and some great final 3rd moves to score. 2-1 and fulham defending.
Great game for lichaj. Good for him after his one impact last week was arteta’s free kick.
GOAL LICHAJ!!
Holy shite! Lichaj with a goal. Yea, definitely a great game
Goal Lichaj!
Lichaj goal!
Great throw-in assist by Lichaj. He’s also looked very quick in the back and wasn’t responsible for either goal, I don’t think. All said, great start for him.
Lichaj w/ throw-in assist!
Neither. Would prefer Wolves, W. Brom & Wigan.
City look like they’ve given up.
Pumped as well… The 0-2 scoreline as I tune in now doesn’t look so good, but, it’s nice to see him get some quality PT.
People on these boards like to rag on him, but he was solid during the GC.
Balotelli just got in a fight… with his teammate.
Let me repeat that again. Balotelli got in a fight with his teammate because they wouldn’t let him take the free kick.
way to go Lichaj. first start in like over a year. much of it was riding the bench or recovering from injury though
5 teams with 28 or 26 points in the EPL based on current results – including Bolton. Villa is plunging down the table with 33.
Who would you rather see relegated – Villa with Guzan on the bench and Lichaj; or Bolton – with Tim Ream and Stu once he gets healthy?
Chandler just got a yellow for complaining.
So what’s up with those old Chandler to Stuttgart rumors? Nurnburg are a bottom-half side at best, relegation candidates at worst. Stuttgart at least gives a chance at Europe…
Sunderland puts in a third on a beautiful break!
3-1 Sunderland. This is it. City needs to respond with at least 2 goals or this is the end.
I am also afraid that Randy Lerner is going to go cheap and turn the Villa into the EPL equivalent of the Cleveland Browns, who are mediocre at best.
I am not a huge Villa fan (I like any team with an American), but I would like our rich, American owners not to look like fools. We already struck out with the prior owners of Liverpool, so I am not holding my breath.
Or maybe he was just going on a run at that point. Now looks to be back on the right and in defense
Can anyone tell what position Chandler is playing? It looks like LM but not sure…
Villa got pasted by Arsenal. Coach got very upset and dropped 6 players from the starting lineup. Lichaj got moved up into the spot.
He’s looked good considering who he’s playing against.
It would be nice to see young Eric get a chance to play. Is he starting because of an injury to another – or a reshuffling due to the terrible news for Petrov? Or has he won the spot!
Oh yeah, strikers never cut back in the box to draw contact. It was a sloppy challenge. Penalty. And a smart play by Dzeko.
Heard that Lichaj torched Kalou in a dead sprint for a ball.
Best player in the world scores! Bendtner! haha
Goal Sunderland with seconds remaining in the first!
Oh absolutely. You knew before he even tried to go by the Sunderland guy that he was going for the penalty. And a pathetic embellishment it was.
Just tuned…how’s he played so far? From what ive seen he’s doing well @ right back. Chandler has been playing well against Bayern Munich as the right back as well.
Dembele feeds Dempsey wtih great pass i the box – dempsey off the post. Dembele can’t finish it. Fun & wide open match.
Sunderland has every right to be furious. Dzeko looked for that and intentionally ran through the Sunderland player’s leg instead of continuing on with the ball.
Pathetic.
That’s a horrible penalty call in the city game.
Norwich plays some good looking soccer – pass and run, lots of one touches, everybody gets in the attack – even Whitbread just had a shot. But they can’t do anything in the final third.
I’m thinking thank Christ you’re not a casting director (mostly kidding…Gyllenhall might work).
And Chelsea goes up by 1. Where are all the US haters ready to blame poor Eric for allowing the goal?
Balotelli has a chance to strike the ball cleanly from the top of the box… but decides to take another dribble and dive the moment a defender comes shoulder to shoulder.
I hate this guy, and I don’t even like City.
Sunderland goes ahead on a very fine strike. Beautiful, just passes it in off the post from 22 yards.
Haha, dangit you’re right!
Steve Mcmanaman gets on my nerves this early in the morning, he’s so hypercritical haha
Dempsey plays beautiful ball for cutting Duff – who chips in. 2-0 Fulham
that dude needs a film based on his life. Soderbergh should direct with maybe Ryan Gosling or Jake Gyllenhaal starring as Deuce. what u think?
No Samir Nasri today…
Dempsey with an early goal. At this pace, he’ll finish with 30 goals today!
2. You cannot win against a day of the week….
Unless you’re playing Sheffield Wednesday!
This isnt a place for soccer discussion john, it’s a place to point out typos on the internet.
(very excited about lichaj)
USMNT has three-quarters of a back line starting in the EPL this morning! A welcome reminder after the U-23 debacle that things are actually moving in the right direction.
Lichaj listed in starting XI against Chelsea!
“If City is going to stay in the playoffs race, they need a win tody against Sunday…”
What the hell is this clause?
1. EPL doesn’t have a playoff.
2. You cannot win against a day of the week, are they supposed to be playing someone?
3. Today has an ‘a.’
also —
they need a win tody against Sunday,
what?
Channeling his inner-MLS.
“If City is going to stay in the playoffs race”. Pardon?
Dempsey for the brace today. Mark it fellas