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Soccer Wednesday: Your Running Commentary

ChelseaCelebrateinAnfield2014-Liverpool (Getty)

By RYAN TOLMICH

A pair of London clubs are set to collide Wednesday, headlining the day’s soccer action.

Chelsea, who enter Wednesday’s action unbeaten in the Premier League, have gone three straight with a clean sheet, but are now set to do battle with Tottenham, who put two past Tim Howard and Everton over the weekend.

Meanwhile, across London, a pair of top four hopefuls collide as Arsenal take on Southampton, who look to bounce back following a disappointing loss to Manchester City last time out.

Additionally, Paris-Saint Germain clashes with Lille, Man City visits Sunderland and Barcelona take on Huesca in Copa Del Rey action.

If you will be watching today’s action, or had a chance to catch today’s early-morning matches, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on the action in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today’s soccer TV schedule is after the jump):

TODAY’S SOCCER ON TV

2:00 p.m. – beIN Sports USA – L’Hospitalet vs Atlético Madrid

2:45 p.m. – Premier League Extra Time – Arsenal vs. Southampton

2:45 p.m. – Premier League Extra Time – Everton vs. Hull City

2:45 p.m. – NBCSN – Chelsea vs. Tottenham

2:45 p.m. – Premier League Extra Time – Sunderland vs. Manchester City

3:00 p.m. – beIN Sports Connect – Lille vs. PSG

4:00 p.m. – beIN Sports USA – Huesca vs. Barcelona

Comments

  1. Alexis is Suarez, Chicharito, good Torres, young Tevez, RVP, all in one, without any issues, except the length of his shorts. I hope he negotiated a “carry this team on my back bonus payment” in his contract.

    Reply
    • Can we start talking about how good he is? I was thrilled Arsenal signed him, but right now he looks like the best player in the Premier League to me. He finishes as well as any forward, covers as much ground as any midfielder and unbelievably determined and competitive. He is simply amazing

      Reply
      • Agreed Tony. And don’t forget he is still supposed to be “adjusting” to “the physical play of the EPL” this year. It was a genius move on Wenger’s part and Alexis too, as he was clearly under the cold shadow of Messi-Neymar’s wings. (see what I did there?) There are only a handful of players in EPL who are in his class right now. I hope Wenger keeps him in a bubble wrap cocoon during the week.

      • so much for the “yeah, he can play in La Liga, but he can’t handle the physicality of the EPL” argument. That argument is soooo tired.

      • Not to mention Fabregas, which has played in the EPL before, but has spent the last few years in La Liga seasoning.

      • I thought at the beginning of the season that he was a better pickup than Costa was for Chelsea. Although Chelsea is doing great, Alexis was a good signing. I think we need to see if he and Giroud are complementary. If Arsenal would stop getting so many injuries (it seems like Ramsey and Wilshire are almost always out), I think they could make a run at City for second place.

  2. Honestly I feel bad for Jozy. As I am watching this game I see the runs he is making or at least attempting to make and the effort he is putting on and for some reason can’t seem to figure out why the dang ball isn’t passed to him. I mean come on I understand he’s not doing well right now but what makes you think you can dribble through six guys yourself. You’re not Messi. Just pass the darn ball.

    Reply
    • I see Jozy walking a lot. So for half a second I think, “hes not even trying.” But then you notice City is just passing the ball around the back 4 on their side of the field and Jozy is the only Sunderland player in the entire city half…

      Oh and their midfielders like to give up the ball by misplaying 4ft passes.

      Reply
      • Eeeeeeeeexactly….. i find it funny when people say using Sunderland’s terribleness as an excuse is wrong. It definitely has a negative effect. When Jozy makes a run and doesn’t get the ball it’s like they say Jozy makes bad runs. uneducated fools. Jozy isn’t world class but he isn’t terrible. he’s a good player on a bad team.

      • He does make some bad runs though. As a fan it is frustrating bc I want him to check to the ball and come get it because he has the dribbling skills to make something happen when he has it. However, far too often he seems to be making a run away from the ball, trying to get in behind the defenders. This leaves his teammates with the difficult decision of whether to try and make a VERY difficult pass over the top and risk squandering possession or try and find a simpler option and keep possession. It seems they always take the safe option, making Jozy’s behind the defense runs often useless.

      • Notice that checking to, receiving, and beating the defender with the dribble is how YOU want and expect Jozy to play. Jozy is going to try to play how his manager instructs him, which at Sunderland is about how Fletcher also tries to play. You may not like it and it may not be effective, but it is silly to get upset at Jozy for not ignoring what are clearly Poyet’s instructions.

      • exactly, Poyet wants the striker to always draw the CBs somewhere. I don’t agree with the tactic all the time but the man’s doing what the coach wants.

    • In the article about Wright Phillips betting a DP contract, a lot of people are saying that he scored so much because he had Henry getting him the b all and how important it is for a striker to get good service. What do you want to bet that some of those same people have blasted Jozy for doing poorly at Sunderland. I think it’s unfortunate that strikers get all the attention, even when sometimes they score on simple tap ins made possible by someone who makes a good dribbling run or great pass. So, yes, it’s ;difficult to score when you don’t get the ball.. You put Messi at Sunderland, I’ll bet he would score about a third as much as he does now because Sunderland has so little possession. Jozy is not world class, but he could be an effective striker in a good league with the right support.

      Reply
      • i couldn’t agree more. people want to say that Jozy supporters look at him with rose tinted glasses yet it’s quite the opposite. his detractors look at him with poo tinted glasses. you said it best. “Jozy is not world class, but he could be an effective striker in a good league with the right support.” all i can add is that he’s not a terrible player as some would say. i feel some “haters” get the difference between “terrible” and “not world class”. just because jozy didn’t become some wunderkind doesn’t meant we should “stop calling him up for NT, etc”. hy….per……bo…..le………..

  3. GOALIE FIGHT!

    seriously, check out espn’s excerpt of timmy’s new book. friedel’s already demanded an apology, and is contemplating legal action.

    Reply
    • Yep, Friedel said that the statement that United wanted them to sign was “full of exaggerations” that he couldn’t sign his name to, so he didn’t. He has a good argument that he didn’t “block” Timmy’s move. Timmy’s point is that Friedel didn’t help him make the transfer. A “block” may be too strong a word. Timmy also said Friedel might have made a statement AGAINST the transfer. Now that is fodder for a fight.

      Reply

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