By JUSTIN FERGUSON
A handful of intriguing English Premier League matchups and the opening two fixtures in the new Serie A season highlight a long Soccer Saturday lineup.
The day will start in London, where city rivals Fulham and Arsenal will square off at Craven Cottage. Fulham pulled out a grinding 1-0 victory last weekend at Sunderland, and the Cottagers return home to face an Arsenal squad looking to bounce back in the league. After their 3-1 loss at home on opening day, the shorthanded Gunners posted an impressive road shutout of Turkish side Fenerbahce in a crucial first leg of their Champions League playoff.
The side that beat Arsenal to kick off their EPL season, Aston Villa, will wrap up the English action with a home match against Liverpool. The Villans were not able to make it two-for-two on the road to start the year, falling to Chelsea during the midweek. Liverpool will look to take advantage of any tiredness from their hosts, who are led by striker Christian Benteke.
Also on Saturday, Mario Balotelli and AC Milan will host newly promoted Hellas Verona in the season’s first Serie A match. Milan are also coming off a first playoff leg in the Champions League, but they were not able to grab a road victory like Arsenal did on Wednesday. The Rossoneri’s match will be followed up by an interesting fixture for rivals Juventus. The defending champions will travel to face Sampdoria, a side that beat them in both league meetings last season.
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):
7:45am – NBC Sports Network/mun2 – Fulham vs. Arsenal
9:30am – GolTV – Bayern Munich vs. FC Nurnberg
10am – NBC Sports Network – Southampton vs. Sunderland
11am – Univision Deportes – Valenciennes vs. Olympique Marseille
12pm – beIN Sport USA – Hellas Verona vs. AC Milan
12:30pm – NBC – Aston Villa vs. Liverpool
12:30pm – GolTV – Hertha Berlin vs. Hamburg
1pm – beIN Sport en Español – Elche vs. Real Sociedad
2pm – Univision Deportes – Lyon vs. Reims
2pm – Fox Sports 2 – FC Kansas City vs. Portland Thorns
2:45pm – beIN Sport USA – Sampdoria vs. Juventus
3pm – beIN Sport en Español – Espanyol vs. Valencia
5pm – beIN Sport en Español – Villarreal vs. Real Valladolid
6pm – Univision Deportes – Club America vs. Morelia
7pm – MLS Direct Kick – Montreal Impact vs. Houston Dynamo
7pm – MLS Direct Kick – D.C. United vs. Toronto FC
7pm – One World Sports/SNY – New York Cosmos vs. San Antonio Scorpions
8pm – UniMas – Tigres UANL vs. Chiapas
8pm – Univision Deportes – Atlante vs. Pachuca
8pm – Fox Sports 2 – Western New York Flash vs. Sky Blue FC
9pm – MLS Direct Kick – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LA Galaxy
9pm – MLS Direct Kick – FC Dallas vs. San Jose Earthquakes
9:05pm – Telemundo – Club Leon vs. Monterrey
9:30pm – MLS Direct Kick – Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew
10pm – Univision Deportes – Atlas vs. Pumas UNAM
Match of the Day is awesome.
NBC’s coverage is head and shoulders above.
Rumor out of Sunderland is that Sessegnon is on the way out. Apparently, he has had less than a positive attitude lately and has openly declared his intent to leave, possibly to Qatar. PDC was not to happy about him dragging it around today. I don’t understand, if this is the case, how he ever saw the field to begin with today. It looks like it will be Jozy and Fletcher, when the latter is fit.
Di Canio wants to close out this window with a creative CM and one more defender. I hope for Jozy’s sake that Sunderland cleans it up.
Brooks left after only 23 minutes. Injury?
Woofta very close to a penalty. exactly what could have happened on the goal if things had gone differently
AV asking the questions now, 75th minute. Delph making plays and linking the field, Okore standing tall in the back so far
CONCACAF referee sightng in Serie A today. Balotelli gets a two handed shove in the back from a defender while in the box. No penalty given. Balotelli gets a card for dissent. To make matters worse, AC loses by one goal.
Silviu Petrescu? God that guy is awful.Should be in a nursing home instead of on a pitch.