By IVES GALARCEP
Brad Guzan and Aston Villa are enjoying a dream start to their English Premier League season, and the Villans sit in second place in the league through four matches. Led by Guzan’s play in goal, and an improved defense that has allowed just one goal so far this season, Aston Villa are riding high after beating Liverpool last week.
Another very tough test awaits today as Arsenal looks to hand the Villans their first loss of the season, while also trying to climb back into the top four. Arsene Wenger’s side has just one in in four matches this season (to go with three ties), but has the weapons to test Guzan.
In Italy, AC Milan and Juventus square off in a Serie A clash of unbeaten teams. Milan are off to a promising start to the new season, and will be looking to send a statement to the defending Serie A champions with a win at the San Siro.
Today’s MLS schedule features several important matches with playoff implications, including Vancouver’s visit to Portland, Houston’s trip to take on the Philadelphia Union, and the Columbus Crew meet the New England Revolution.
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 TV schedule is after the jump):
TODAY’S SOCCER ON TV
7:15 a.m. – beIN Sports USA – Watford vs. AFC Bournemouth
7:45 a.m. – NBC Sports Network – Queens Park Rangers vs. Stoke City
9:30 a.m. – GolTV USA – Hamburg vs. Bayern Munich
10 a.m. – NBC Sports Network – Aston Villa vs. Arsenal
10 a.m. – Premier League Extra Time – Burnley vs. Sunderland
10 a.m. – Premier League Extra Time – Newcastle vs. Hull City
10 a.m. – Premier League Extra Time – Swansea City vs. Southampton
10 a.m. РbeIN Sports USA РDeportivo La Coru̱a vs. Real Madrid
12 p.m. РbeIN Sports en Espa̱ol РAthletic Bilbao vs. Granada
12:30 p.m. – NBC – West Ham United vs. Liverpool
12:30 p.m. – GolTV USA – Mainz vs. Borussia Dortmund
2 p.m. РbeIN Sports en Espa̱ol РAtletico Madrid vs. Celta de Vigo
2:45 p.m. – beIN Sports USA – AC Milan vs. Juventus
3 p.m. РGolTV USA РEl Tanque Sisley vs. Pe̱arol
4 p.m. РbeIN Sports en Espa̱ol РEspanyol vs. Malaga
5 p.m. – NBC Sports Network – Portland Timbers vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
6 p.m. – Univision Deportes – Club America vs. Pachuca
6 p.m. – ESPN Deportes/Azteca America – Puebla vs. Chiapas
7 p.m. – MLS Direct Kick – Philadelphia Union vs. Houston Dynamo
7:30 p.m. –Â MLS Direct Kick – Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution
7:30 p.m. – NBC Sports Network – New York Red Bulls vs. Seattle Sounders
8 p.m. – Univision Deportes – Tigres UANL vs. Universidad de Guadalajara
8:30 p.m. –Â MLS Direct Kick – Chicago Fire vs. D.C. United
9:05 p.m. – Telemundo – Club Leon vs. Veracruz
10 p.m. – Univision Deportes – Atlas vs. Cruz Azul
10:30 p.m. –Â MLS Direct Kick – LA Galaxy vs. FC Dallas
Also, nice goal Perez. The man is dirty but he’s one of the better center forwards in the league.
Galaxy fans doing puto chants? Not exactly enlightened there CA.
I will confess I have heard it in Dallas too once. =(
I was really looking forward to MLS’s stream of the week. Not sure what’s going on with their feed.
Vancouver sucks. Much better from NYRB.
Come on Vancouver… Finish those chances.
How long has been Holden been doing commentary?
By game #? Longer than he’s been playing.
3 goals for Cristiano, 2 for Bale, 1 for James and 2 for Chicharito.
That’s pretty good company right there.
Dang, Bedoya out with illness.
how in the world does Chicharito have the luck for playing for 2 of the biggest clubs in the world in only 4 years
probably because it isn’t luck
I won’t say its luck but he clearly has a very very limited skillset. He is good for dominate big teams who just need someone in the box.(Although Mexico is like this in cancacaf and it hasn’t helped him.)
The move is just weird because we all know how he has been playing over the last 2 years and it isn’t good. Like noted above, Vela or Peralta are both better then he is right now.
Vela is the better player but he is a winger/second striker
Peralta was good but he got old too fast, it seems that Hernandez will get back his confidence and starting spot with Mexico.
Probably on big enough wages relative to his ability that only the big clubs can afford to pay that for the quality he brings.
He has good instincts, something no American player can boast.
And with that Chicharito ties Altidore’s goal tally in Spain.
Three games into the season.
Yeah looked like a pretty close match.
Werent they 6 up when he came on? Kinda meaningless.
For sure. But it’s still two goals. And the first one was sick. 20 yards out, curving rocket into the upper 90. His second was probably 25 yards out and took a deflection, so a bit of luck. Either way, he’s getting time with Real Madrid and now has two goals to build off of.
Okay believe what you like. I have seen him play plenty of times for Mexico in the last 2 years. Tells me all I need to know.
What do I believe?! I’m just saying he scored tWo nice goals today. Him playing and scoring for Madrid will improve his Mexico form…most likely.
Okay maybe believe wasnt the best term there. =
Im just reading much into his goals.
As much as it pains me to say, Hernandez is still (even in a bad run of form) the most dangerous forward in our region.
eh, debatable. Jozy still way more important to his national team…Jozy makes the USMNT team better an without him Cup without him
darn phone…Jozy makes the USMNT team better, just look at the USMNT offense at the World Cup
Can’t dispute you on that (the world cup was evident of that).
However, I said “dangerous”. Hernandez is always a threat and can be a nightmare. He’s even more dependent on service than Jozy, to be honest, but he’s tireless with his workrate and even without the ball, is making defenders work.
why did you stay away fromhere for so long?
anyway, not debating either player’s qualities. Jozy more dangerous for USMNT than Hernandez is for Mexico 🙂
Yeah, but everyone and their brother scored for Real today. I’m guessing Deportivo’s defensive pressure wasn’t exactly high at 6-2 down in the last 10 minutes.
yep, and if there’s one thing you can always compare, it’s two players at different stages of their careers playing for different teams in different seasons.
exactly, i always find it funny to watch people compare apples to oranges haha.
Apples to oranges is the perfectly way to put it. One scores goals in Spain and England and the other one doesn’t.
i think you’re missing the point… if Jozy played with Real Madrid in a game vs Deportivo ( and they were up 6-1 when he entered game in 77′) im pretty sure Jozy would get 2 goals…. the apples and oranges refers to the players’ clubs, not the players themselves.
I thought Jozy whiffed, literally and figurativly, on every touch he had. Not encouraging. Possession ended with him every time he touched it.
Ugh Sunderland is so bad. And even though I’m a madrid fan I don’t like seeing Chicharito scoring two goals! Lol
Gyau in the 18, hopefully he gets time. Once again, glad GolTV is back in my cable package.
Watching the Championship is kind of like watching someone else play pinball.
remember when people said that Jozy was the best striker in CONCACAF? good times
context……… people were most likely saying that when he was scoring loads in Holland. pretty logical… now he’s not playing as well and people dont say he’s “the best ST in CONCACAF”…….
Who is? Campbell?
Campbell is a winger
out of curiosity, who do u believe IS the best CONCACAF ST? is this based on talent of current form?
Vela?
Does he even count?
Of course. And as a U.S. fan I’ll just sit back and enjoy him not playing for Mexico.
Dos Santos said that Vela really wants to go back to play for Mexico and they are best friends
Joel Campbell? Is a striker. At least he was at the World Cup for Costa Rica and Olympiacos last season.
I guess it all depends on if you want to look at national team performance, or club performance. I could see an argument for Peralta but some might hold not being in Europe against him. Then Campbell had pretty good World Cup. Then I don’t even know. It would be hard to say Hernandez considering he’s been pretty poor for Mexico over the last year.
If I had to pick one right now I’d say Peralta, I guess.
And no matter how you decide, it’s not a U.S. player. Which is a bummer.
So long as the US continues to finish top of the table in CONCACAF qualifying, I’m fine with that.
For sure. I hope it stays that way.
Hey, it’s Cheech.
Jozy looks rusty and miscommunicating with his teammates on combination play.
i think less rusty and more the latter; he goes in for a cross and the guy ground passes it to him…. he looks for overlap and Van A pulled back from his run, etc. I truly think his best angle is to just train well, play the sub role for most of the season, build chem in practice and try to make a late season push for starting minutes
I forget that this site is still online. Feels so different with neither Dempsey or Bradley playing in Europe, It’s like why even come here only to hear Howard/Guzan had a decent game with 4 saves but no cleansheet and Jozy got 12 mins off the bench.
I miss the days of Bradley with Roma or Dempsey scoring a brace for FULHAM and all the celebrations we shared
Of course this site also provides ample coverage of our domestic league that featured aforementioned Dempsey and Bradley among many other USMNT players
Wickham and Altidore pretty similar in a lot of ways. Pretty good technique in holding up the ball but tend to get it poked away from behind.
One scores goals. One does not. Basically the same.
Yeah. Wickham has lit up the BPL this season with his zero goals. No forwards have scored for Sunderland at this early point in the season.
Yea, I gathered a minority of people reading that post would take offense to facts. But, facts are facts. “Goals”. 9 is still more than 1.
One scores. One does not.
Eh, Wickham doesn’t have 9 goals for Sunderland… and certainly not this year.
think he’s including cups or something.
Conor Wickham is a goal scoring machine, with 10 in all competitions since 2011. Funny, Sunderland fans are saying that Wickham and Fletcher need more service…But that can’t be the problem. Fletcher and Wickham aren’t scoring because they are terrible players.
you could’ve said ‘scored’, which would be more accurate for their sunderland careers–wonder why you didn’t?
of course, i also don’t think they’re similar players at all, which is why wickham might do well at sunderland, while jozy should get the hell out.
and welcome back (unless this is a new ‘old school’?).
Sunderland can’t pass on the ground for their life.
Jozy seems to be playing as a dual striker with Wickham.
Dumb foul there. Frustration foul.
Jozy coming on for AJ.
Altidore is on
Neurer is going to get caught out one these days.
Well, he got a yellow card today. That was mental. Hamburg will still be happy to be honest but draws vs Bayern seem easier to get these days.
Oh wow, Hamburg should have had it. Well could have. Neuer was out of midfield stuck with the ball. Green(?) I think almost got the ball off him but Neuer hit it with his hand as it went past. Ref whistled for it but I really need to see it again to see if he should have played advantage.
I think it was Green. I changed the channel and switched back to see the end of the replay.
It was Green.
http://www.gfycat.com/UnfitImpossibleDungbeetle
Urg, so close to glory. I wish the Ref had played advantage more. Made the call too fast.
Why is a hand ball by the keeper out of the box. and there is no doubt that Neuer was way out of the box, not called a penalty kick?
As the video clip K2 linked to, Green made a great toe flip at speed to get it over Neuer and go forward with his teammates to the keeper-less net which would have had a super high percentage of success. Bummer!
btw K2, long ago I raced on the old red, white and blue K2 4’s, 208’s.
Sachel,
Penalty kicks only occur on fouls that result in direct kicks IN the box.
Wrong.
Not when the keeper is out of the box they don’t. It was even questioned in the Munich newspapers. In an interview Neuer grinned and said it was a deliberate hand ball. He said it was up to the ref to whistle.
Sachel,
Are you joking? PKs can only happen in the box. PKs = penalty kicks.
are you attempting to say the handball should have been a red card?
otherwise, you have no idea what you are saying because you can’t get a PK if you aren’t in the box…
bryan, in an article in a Munich newspaper the ref. was quoted saying that because there were 2 defenders behind the ball he couldn’t say it would have been a sure goal for Hamburger. That’s why he only gave Neuer a yellow.
Sacel, fine, he deserved a yellow. but please, feel free to explain why it should be a PK. we’re still waiting.
Did green just get screwed by a neuer handball?
Yup, looks like. 2 defenders back still but… um open net.
That was quite ridiculous.
Figured Green would have to sit this one out…pretty delicious if he can net the winner.
I actually get to watch Green since GolTV is now all of the sudden available! In HDR no less. Glad Uverse moved it back to the sports tier.
A couple of months ago I had 5 hours to spare so I called up Crime Warner Cable and asked them what the Gol TV upgrade cost…. the serious answer was 61 cents. I suspect more and more that the Gol network is run out of somebody’s dorm room at this point, and they’ll just take whatever comes their way.
Speaking of Goalkeeping. OMG!!! Nasco! dude has been a disaster for Colorado.
In fact, their goalkeeping has completely fallen apart this year. Its hard not to to have sentimental feelings for old soldiers like Pablo M. but someone needs to ask him what has happened to the goalkeepers since he has been in charge.
Green on vs Bayern 0-0
Julian is on!
Playing up top as an underneath striker.
nice high pressure by JG earns him an excellent steal.
JG trying to run at Bayern defenders, but is dispossessed. Kid is aggressive and confident. Got to give him that.
Yeah, he just helped set up a shot. He was fouled from behind…but no whistle but somehow he came up with the ball and got a pass out to someone.
I think they guy that fouled him assumed he had fouled him and didn’t keep playing? It was weird.
Watching it. I don’t expect much. Bayern can’t score right now but defense hasn’t been an issue.
This poor announcer is all alone but he’s actually not doing a bad job at all.
Well 79 seconds changes everything. Guzan has to be furious with his D line for leaving Welbeck wide open on the 2nd, and as I write this an own goal.
That own goal was horrendous, Cissokho at his best. Arsenal just put it into high gear for a couple minutes
Yeah, Guzan’s been absolutely hung out to dry on all 3 goals. I was wondering if Villa had turned a corner this season, but that certainly looked like the Villa defense of years past.
Pray 4 Guzan
What a goal from James!!!!
sick
Other soccer options tonight:
NASL: San Antonio Scorpions vs. Minnesota United at 8:30 ET on ESPN3 (the top two teams in the league)
USL Pro: Richmond Kickers vs. Harrisburg City Islanders at 7:30 ET
Sacramento Republic FC vs. LA Galaxy II at 10:30 ET both streaming live through USL Pro.
only slightly interested in la galaxy game
Sweet, thanks!
bench: hyndman, shea, green.
jozy
rough day
If you’re into Championship level fullbacks then you’re covered, Spector, Ream and Lichaj all starting.
not my cup of tea
Chandler starting for Frankfurt, up 2-0 at Schalke
Oh Schalke. You gotta fire Keller.
2-2 but since the 2 Schalke goals, they have decided they wanna play with 9 men. 2 reds for Schalke.
Shawn Parker didn’t even make the bench
If he is not hurt, my guess is behavior. I read more than once coaches saying “he needs to mature”.
and Packwood for the first time on the bench
signing off, so a couple words on morales:
thought he was solely a d-mid, but he’s definitely more box-to-box–he occasionally even played up top with the forwards–and he’s got good technical ability. he does get beat a little too easily when 1v1, and he tends to get sucked into the action so that he loses his mark.
and he’s got one of the most punchable faces i’ve ever seen, so there’s that.
Thanks man. I agree on Morales’ face and his hair doesn’t help.
so, you are saying he looks like a punk?
I guess we all have a player with a face that we would like to punch, mine would be S. Parker.
Lenhart.
bobby wood comes on in the 76th.
morales gets an assist with a beautiful cross to find an open runner in the box. hit him perfectly in stride.
Morales M.O. is his fantastic touch. Glad he is coming through in BL2.
tough kid too, plays with a fire. always liked him
tough and plays with a fire too. always liked him
morales starting, bobby wood on the bench in 1860 munich-ingolstadt