With Liverpool having already booked their place in the FA Cup Final, today we will find out which London club will join them at Wembley with silverware on the line.
Rivals Tottenham and Chelsea square off today in their FA Cup semifinal, and while both are fighting for a place in the Premier League Top Four, and Chelsea has the Champions League semifinals against Barcelona to think about, today's FA Cup tilt should still be a hotly-contested clash.
Manchester United will be back at Old Trafford today, looking to make up for the embarrassing loss to Wigan during the week. With Manchester City suddenly on the winning track again, the pressure is suddenly back on the Red Devils to keep some distance between themselves and their neighbors.
MLS Week 6 concludes tonight, with the Chicago Fire playing host to the Houston Dynamo, which come off a bye week and will look to record a third win of the season to climb up the Eastern Conference standings.
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 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Espanyol vs. Valencia
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Borussia Monchengladbach vs. FC Cologne
11 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel - Manchester United vs. Aston Villa
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Sochaux vs. Dijon
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Nancy vs. Bordeaux
11 a.m. – FoxSoccer2Go - Lorient vs. Montpellier
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Valenciennes vs. Evian Thonon Gaillard
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - St. Etienne vs. Brest
11 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Lille vs. Ajaccio
12 p.m. - GOLTV – Athletic Bilbao vs. Mallorca
1 p.m. – Univision - Toluca vs. Cruz Azul
1 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Tottenham vs. Chelsea
2:45 p.m. - FoxSoccer2Go/Fox Deportes/ESPN3.com - Roma vs. Fiorentina
3 p.m. - GOLTV - Ponte Preta vs. Corinthians
3 p.m. – Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go - Auxerre vs. Paris-St. Germain
3:30 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Rayo Vallecano vs. Atletico Madrid
7 p.m. - Galavision - Chicago Fire vs. Houston Dynamo
7 p.m. - GOLTV - Tigre vs. Boca Juniors
As much as I love Napoli I see him going to Juve first
If Dempsey went to Germany you could bet money that people would clamor for coverage. Germany and Italy offer sides where Dempsey could fit in immediately and contribute both to CL and seasonal fixtures. I just don’t see that happening at Chelsea Man U or Arsenal. Tottenham is the exception, especially if they can’t hang on to Modric and Bale. I don’t see him seeing the field at Man City, either.
Of course it’s my opinion.
Clint was very much under the radar when he moved to Fulham and there was a far lower level of expectation.
A move now will doubtless be much bigger money, more high profile and the expectation will be that he will reproduce his Fulham goal scoring rate immediately. They won’t cut him the same slack they might for a 23-24 year old bargain buy. If you remember, Holden and Donovan were succesful right out of the box.
That kind of immediate success will be the expectation and is not easy to achieve.
Bad decision not to start Friedel. Man, was Scott Parker pissed after that kick-out from Mikel. His eyes, daggers! Lucky Terry held him back. Could’ve gotten ugly.
Recent Spurs form: good in possession and build up, inconsistent finishing, and susceptability to the counter. Curious about Friedel not starting. Harry’s playing for CL now.
What Dempsey said:
“I want to play Champions League Football.”
What Dempsey really means:
“I want to cash in while I am hot.”
Learn the code.
Dempsey is NOT going to play club football in Germany, Italy, or Spain.
England is where the money is.
England is where the TV eyeballs are.
Tottenham lacks a ballhawk making perfectly timed runs thru the box. Dempsey –> Spurs. I’m begging.
we get some shotty officiating in MLS, yes, but the EPL puts out some real howler decison makers week after week too…or should I say weak after weak
I want to support the officials because that is a tough job, but sheesh
risky?
Sounds like that’s YOUR opinion.
btw, moving to England from MLS was “risky”, too.
Wow.
THAT’S how you play with your back to the goal.
Drogba 101.
Drogba….wow…
That’s pitiful. The guy is a disgrace
Most of these posts are about what YOU guys all think should be Dempsey’s reasons for his next move,if he does move.
Money has to be a major part of his decision; it sure would be with any of you.
Still,it seems to me the ideal move would be to stay in England, preferably London,with a club that has a clearly defined role for him,if familiarity with the league and not disrupting the family are the priorities.
At 29 and most likely being a big money move, Dempsey better produce right away.
This business about breaking new ground is for people who want to be heros or martyrs, not productive well paid attackers.
All things being equal, moving to a new country and league is very risky at Clint’s age.
I guess Harry didn’t get the memo from SBI. Clearly Friedel was supposed to start: I mean he’s the feature picture on today’s SBI running commentary FFS!
Wow… I just watched it. Anyone else who didn’t see it, here you go: http://i41.tinypic.com/157oj15.jpg
Oh, man, please. No. ABB (anyone but bayern)…
Actually, I think the person who logged in under “huhe888” for this thread is making an interesting point. True, Dempsey is not going to make his decision based on endorsements. But the team that signs him is most certainly going to look at his marketing potential. Dempsey, as the USA’s best player and one who 99% of USMNT fans love, is a gold mine for the next team that signs him. There are even stories in UK now that Man U, which has Americans on its Board of Directors, is aware of this and Sir Alex is now contemplating whether Dempsey’s skill set would fit in at Man U.
But that said, I think the endorsement argument outlined by the person who logged in under “huhe888” is not on a very firm foundation. The type of thinking is behind the times, not taking into consideration that the USMNT now has a German coach and also several American players who happened to grow up in Germany and now play in the Bundesliga. The USMNT-German connection is going to only get stronger, with more US players going to the Bundesliga and, I bet you, even moving regularly to the 2. Bundesliga when MLS players start to realize that they can make much more money there.
Look at the increased Serie A interest since Mike Bradley moved to Italy. We would see the same thing if Clint Dempsey moves to the Bundesliga, but it would be much stronger. And Dempsey’s endorsement value playing in the Champions League for Schalke or Dortmund would be much higher than now playing for Fulham.
Friedel on the bench for the FA Cup semi. The rest of Spurs regular First XI is in…
WTF, ‘Arry?!
Yeah, I’d say Lichaj has done quite well, given his assignment.
He could’ve done better on that third Man U goal. He left his man to double on Rooney, and that led to everything coming apart. He’s still played a good game overall.
From what I have seen Lichaj has shown well, even making some good tackles on Valencia. Him at LB and Chandler at RB would make me happy for the WCQs.
Wish I could watch the game…Lichaj is holding up well then?
Too bad, because Baker had been very good before that.
FOX announcers justify call saying those who don’t like the call are conspiracy advocates. Complete rubbish, muting them out.
Well thank you Debbie Downer.
I disagree, that was all on Baker. He inexplicably let the ball roll right past him when he could have cleared it. A poor defensive display on that play all around, to be sure, but Baker could have cleared it and didn’t. He gets the blame.
And I’m not just sticking up for Lichaj; I really like the kid, but he’s having a rough time today (as any LB would have against Valencia).
if that is what you think the deciding factor is, you are insane.. if dempsey wants to go to bayern, he will go to bayern.
All their great defensive play in their box goes to waste on one terrible play.
Dempsey has been averaging about a goal a game lately, so you certainly have to think he has a shot. I see Jozy finishing with 16-17.
hopefully he is smart and doesn’t make his decision based on endorsement deals in the us.
it should be based on the chances the new team gives him to improve, play better competition and become the best american player ever.
Well, the whole of the Villa backline is to blame there, Lichaj included.
Either one of the CBs could/should have cleared it, but Lichaj has to hold on to Welbeck there.
Lichaj handling Valencia superbly so far in a very entertaining end to end game
As of now, Landon Donovan makes at least 3x the money Dempsey makes from product endorsements.
If Dempsey were to leave England, Landon will clean up the U.S. English-language market and Dempsey will be left with crumbs.
Dempsey’s agent will advise him of his worth as a product endorser.
His product endorsement income will drop if he were to leave England.
The Bundesliga DOES NOT SELL in the U.S. Never did. Never will.
No one has ever made money airing Bundesliga matches in English or Spanish in the U.S. Not Prime, not FOX, not Setanta, not ESPN, not GOLTV.
Dempsey is going to make his decision based on tv media rights? that’s new.
Kudos to Given for a great reaction save on that chance by Wellbeck (started by a wicked ball from Valencia).
Dempsey is NOT going to Germany. Out of sight = out of mind. Americans don’t watch the Bundesliga in numbers.
U.S. TV rights to the Bundesliga are only worth $1 million/season. GOLTV, Inc. has renewed through 2015.
U.S. TV rights to the Premier League are currently worth $20 million/season. Those rights are expected to be sold at around $80-100 million/season for the 2013-2016 seasons in August. (Qatar Media is the odd-on favorite to win the U.S. rights unless FOX, ESPN, and possibly Univision can come up with enough money as a 3-way alliance to fend off Qatar Media.)
This is a team built to get steamrolled by United. Gotta give Villa credit so far, they’ve fought and made some great last-ditch tackles and blocks. Definitely trying to make something happen at the other end as well.
There was nothing questionable about that call. It was a DIVE. Not a fan of either team but this is just unbelievable.
AV’s whole team look like they’re 18 years old. Didn’t realize they were going through this much turmoil.
Looks like it will be Limassol this year in the CL, not APOEL.
seriously Ashley Young? just no
Here’s a shocker. Man U with another questionable call handing them a penalty. Surely there was no way Ashley Young could have continued his run (cough).
Good grief.
Lichaj left and tasked with handling Tony V.
*gulp*
Hearts beat Celtic to make it an all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final! Not really a big deal, I know, but as someone with nostalgia for the SPL, I’m glad to see a final contested without Celtic and Rangers.
would be interesting to see Clint at a club like Sevilla/Valencia in SPAIN or Schalke/Stuttgart in Germany or Napoli/Lazio in Italy
Key game today for Hoffenheim. Bayer Leverkusen screwed-up big-time yesterday, tying against Hertha Berlin. If Hoffenheim can beat Freiburg today, then the door is wide open for Hoffenheim to finish sixth or seventh in the Bundesliga, meaning that Fabian Johnson, Daniel Williams and Joe Gyau would be playing next season in the Europa League.
@RFK: Schalke would be a great fit for Dempsey. Also Dortmund, a young team that choked this season in the Champion’s League and finished last in its group, could benefit in next season’s CL from Dempsey’s experience. There is speculation that Dortmund attacking midfielder Kagawa might leave Dortmund for England, and Dempsey could help plug that hole.
Dempsey to Apoel!
so which CL club do you guys see Clint joining?
and great news for Bradley. Chievo set to finish mid-table. Great news
ALTIDORE with 14 league goals. Dempsey with 16.
Any chance either reaches 20 league goals by season’s end. 4 games left for Jozy, 6 left for Dempsey