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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

 

By IVES GALARCEP

Both Everton and Tottenham started the season with modest, if ambitious, hopes of vying for a top four place in the English Premier League. Three weeks into the season has seen both teams drop points as they head into their showdown at White Hart Lane.

Everton will look to rebound off last week’s loss to Manchester City, while Tottenham is still looking for its first win of the season.

In Germany, Bayern Munich has already begun to assert its dominance, but Bayer Leverkusen will look to provide a stiff test in a battle of UEFA Champions League teams.

In MLS, Toronto FC will play host to a Didier Drogba-less Montreal Impact squad desperate for a win after last week’s surprise loss to Philadelphia.

If you are 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):

SATURDAY SOCCER ON TV

7:05 a.m. — beIN Sports USA — Derby County vs. Leeds United

7:45 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Newcastle United vs. Arsenal

9:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Soccer 2Go — Stuttgart vs. Eintracht Frankfurt

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Augsburg vs. Ingolstadt

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go/Fox Deportes — Cologne vs. Hamburg

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Mainz 05 vs. Hannover 96

9:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Darmstadt 98 vs. Hoffenheim

10 a.m. — USA Network/NBC Sports Live Extra – Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — AFC Bournemouth vs. Leicester City

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Aston Villa vs. Sunderland

10 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra — Manchester City vs. Watford

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Stoke City vs. West Brom

10 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Liverpool vs. West Ham

10 a.m. – beIN Sports USA — Ipswich Town vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

Noon — beIN Sports USA — Bologna vs. Sassuolo

12:30 p.m. — NBC/Telemundo/NBC Sports Live Extra — Tottenham  vs. Everton

12:30 p.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Soccer 2Go — Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen

12:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español — Real Sociedad vs. Sporting Gijón

1:30 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Porto vs. Estoril

2:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports en Español — Barcelona vs. Málaga

4 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact

4 p.m. — DirectTV/YES Network/Fox Sports Go/MLS Live — New York City FC vs. Columbus Crew

4 p.m. — beIN Sports Connect — Celta de Vigo vs. Rayo Vallecano

4:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports en Español — Real Madrid vs. Real Betis

6 p.m. — Univision Deportes/Univision — Cruz Azul vs. Club América

7 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Philadelphia Union vs. New England

7 p.m. — WatchESPN/ESPN3 — Ottawa Fury vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies

7:30 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Orlando City vs. Chicago Fire

7:30 p.m. — WatchESPN/ESPN3 — Atlanta Silverbacks vs. Edmonton

7:30 p.m. — WatchESPN/ESPN3 — Fort Lauderdale Strikers vs. Indy Eleven

7:30 p.m. — WatchESPN/ESPN3 — Jacksonville Armada vs. San Antonio Scorpions

8 p.m. — Univision Deportes — Tigres UANL vs. Querétaro

9 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Houston Dynamo vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

9 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — FC Dallas vs. Real Salt Lake

9 p.m. — DirecTV/MLS Live — Colorado Rapids vs. Sporting Kansas City

9:06 p.m. — Telemundo — Pachuca vs. Atlas

9:30 p.m. — Azteca America — Morelia vs. Tijuana

Comments

  1. Jody with a nice game winning rebound volley. 3 in 2 yet technically 3 in his last 90. Could set him up for a nice game vs Brazil ?

    Reply
      • Not saying I’d start Jozy but I don’t really get all the love for Johannsson. I thought he was pretty average in the Gold Cup. Probably seen more flashes from Morris and Wood in there brief chances.

      • Jozy on his day ( not going through his lack on confidence) is a better player than AJ and he is that not great at the international level.

      • Jozy has always been streaky.

        Based on what I saw in the Gold Cup he’s ;lacking confidence in his fitness which spills over into everything else.

        If he can just get something going either with TFC or in these next two friendlies ( it’s not clear yet whether he will be called in for 1,2 or neither of the friendlies) that would be helpful in October.

        He ain’t much but it’s better for the US if he is in good form with his head on straight than not.
        ..

  2. Howard has made a few saves including stoping Kane on a break away. good positioning and reaction save.
    Everton have no chemistry up top and have no clue what they’re doing on offense. Tottenham didn’t look much better imo.

    Bayern look good so far… Vidal looks very good in the midfield, Costa has 99 FIFA speed and acceleration, and Muller can’t stop scoring. Can someone tell me if Ribery is ever coming back from injury???

    Reply
  3. So much for Fox’s hype for being the new “Home of the Bundesliga”. They put, what, 1-2 games on FS1 each week? What a joke.

    Reply
    • Totally agree – I was hoping for a few games. In my opinion, the fields and stadia for the German league look much better that the EPL on a Saturday afternoon.

      Reply
    • It depends if you have Fox Sports 2. I have Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 and Fox Deportes. Between those 3 stations I get about 5 games a weekend. The Bundesliga only has 9 a weekend.What they really should do is make the games available live on FoxSportsGo (which is free). If you want additional features (such as playback and availability of Fox Plus programming), pay for FoxSports2Go.

      And to think people wanted Fox Sports to take EPL away from NBC who does the best soccer coverage I have ever seen in the US.

      Reply
      • It is great to be able to see BL matches.

        However, the overall presentation is amateurish compared to that of NBC’s Premiership coverage.

        Wynalda is okay but Kirovski is pretty raw. Alexi looks like he’s slumming.and is phoning it in. It’s as if, besides Bayern Munich and maybe Dortmund, Lalas is not familiar with these teams.

        Maybe if they brought in Ballack they would have someone who might actually care.

      • They need to cut loose Kirovski. He’s bad. The things is he, Wynalda and the moderators are ones who played in the Bundesliga. Wynalda is an excellent analyst, but they others besides Warren Barton leave a lot to be desired.

      • This may be Jovan’s first gig. If so it shows.

        Ballack would be a nice counter to Eric, if he is available. If not Arne Friedrich might be a good choice.

  4. O/t but what are you guys watching on tv?

    I cant wait until game of Thrones and the walking dead. Been enjoying Show Me A Hero on HBO.

    Reply
  5. Why do we have so few Yanks in Europe now? I get that MLS is paying more but are our guys lacking ambition to compete for a spot overseas?

    What is the deal? Shouldnt JK be demanding European moves?

    Reply
      • Columbia, the same place that gave you USMNT old timer Desmond Armstrong friend of Alexi.

        You know that nationalistic fervor and separatist tendencies are getting out of hand when the town that gave you Edward Norton is fielding it’s own national team!.

    • People slam him when he does. He says he wants players playing with and against the best competition. Find the highest level where you can push yourself and play regularly. They think he is slighting MLS, but he really isn’t. He just says it is not as high a level as he wants some of his players to play (and he’s right). He is happy for Mixx to come to MLS because it was a higher level than he was playing at (and slightly below Liga MX, which had passing interest). However for others who really carry the team, play at a higher level in EPL, Bundeslida, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Eredivisie or Liga MX where they can be regular players/subs.

      That being said, he completely understands if MLS decides to pay the same or double or triple your salary to come back home (that is what is even with Bradley – his Roma salary was post-tax). From and MLS perspective it makes senses attract names and overpay (looking at you Bradley – no way you should b eearning more than Keane). Do these players really making a difference (in terms of salary) in attendance/Jersey sales? However, this is not a unique problem. All leagues have an issues of balancing what is good for the league vs the national team, even the biggest (EPL, Serie A, Ligue 1) have all had issues of good for the league vs good for the national team in the past 2 or 3 years.

      Reply
  6. 50 goals in 184 league games for Fulham. Had he been 24 instead of 29 he’d have gotten a big move to a CL club instead of Spurs.

    In fact I believe Roma wanted him during summer 2012.

    Reply

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