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Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

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Saturday should prove a busy one of soccer, as games throughout Europe and North America provide plenty of interest heading into the international break.

Several Premier League heavy-hitters take the field, starting with Manchester City’s clash with Middlesbrough. Chelsea then headlines the afternoon matchup, as Antonio Conte’s side hosts Everton in a meeting of top-6 sides.

In Germany, Bayern Munich takes on Hoffenheim while Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund host a Hamburg team that will be without Bobby Wood. Action in Spain is headlined by Atletico Madrid, who look to keep pace atop the table with a visit to Real Sociedad.

In the evening, attention turns towards Liga MX and the NASL, as the latter begins the postseason with a clash between the New York Cosmos  and Rayo OKC.

If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action (Today’s TV schedule below):

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

11 a.m. — NBCSN/NBC Sports Live Extra/NBC Universo/Telemundo Deportes en Vivo — Manchester City vs. Middlesbrough

11 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Bournemouth vs. Sunderland

11 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — Burnley vs. Crystal Palace

11 a.m. — NBC Sports Live Extra — West Ham United vs. Stoke City

1:30 p.m. — NBC/NBC Sports Live Extra/NBC Universo/Telemundo Deportes en Vivo — Chelsea vs. Everton

SPANISH LA LIGA

8 a.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Granada vs. Deportivo La Coruña

11:15 a.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Real Sociedad vs. Atlético Madrid

1:30 p.m. — beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Osasuna vs. Deportivo Alavés

GERMAN BUNDESLIGA

10:30 a.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go — Bayern Munich vs. Hoffenheim

10:30 a.m. — Fox Deportes/Fox Soccer 2Go — Bayer Leverkusen vs. Darmstadt 98

10:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — Hamburg SV vs. Borussia Dortmund

10:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — FC Ingolstadt vs. FC Augsburg

10:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Freiburg vs. VfL Wolfsburg

1:30 p.m. — Fox Sports 2/Fox Deportes/Fox Sports Go/Fox Soccer 2Go — Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Cologne

ENGLISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

8:30 a.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports Connect — Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Derby County

1:30 p.m. — beIN Sports USA/beIN Sports Connect — Bristol City vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

ENGLISH FA CUP

8:30 a.m. — Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Soccer 2Go — Merstham vs. Oxford United

11 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Bolton Wanderers vs. Grimsby Town

11 a.m. — Fox Soccer 2Go — Westfields vs. Curzon Ashton

ITALIAN SERIE A

1 p.m. — RAI Internazionale — Torino vs. Cagliari

3:45 p.m. — RAI Internazionale/beIN Sports en Español/beIN Sports Connect — Napoli vs. Lazio

MEXICAN LIGA MX

7 p.m. — Univision/Univision Deportes — Cruz Azul vs. Pachuca

7 p.m. — Galavision — Querétaro vs. Toluca

9 p.m. — Azteca America — Atlas vs. Club América

9:06 p.m. — Univision/Univision Deportes — Club León vs. Guadalajara

11 p.m. — ESPN Deportes/Univision Deportes — Necaxa vs. Puebla

NASL

7 p.m. — One World Sports — New York Cosmos vs. Rayo OKC

NCAA MEN

8 p.m. — ESPN3/WatchESPN — Evansville vs. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville

Comments

  1. Fresh wings on, Schurrle and Dembele for Mor and Pulisic. Pulisic the best of those two, but Mor was no slouch. He may leap Dembele with good run of form. Really solid shift from Pulisic though. It’s great to see the seasoning start to happen. He’s making better decisions lately, even if the goals aren’t coming. Last contribution was a blistering run down the left. He gets fouled like crazy. On the left he seems to have more freedom to switch inside, too.

    Reply
    • Noticed you skipped over Dembele’s goal after dissing him all morning. He and CP are better than Mor(you can certainly tell both have more experience at a higher level than Emre), and Dembele can play centrally as well. Both he and CP have 2 goals and 4 assists in league play.

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    • In line with what I observed and, best of all, becoming a routine for him. Active and involved, fast, skillful, good passing and movement on and off the ball, passable defending for an attacker which is as good as you hope for. With an official who understood how to protect players, he’d be unstoppable because the only way to control him is to foul him and defenders will do it until the yellow cards start flowing.

      I’m gonna say it and say it loudly and repeatedly. He’s a capable winger and that’s a safe place to put him while he is young, but he NEEDS to be the engine, tip of the diamond in the 4-4-2 (4-1-2-1-2) with a defensive midfielder behind him who will stay home and let P-sick run the show with the freedom to attack left, right, or middle. Sorry Bradley lovers, but unless you think he can handle playing on the right side of midfield in that formation, it means the bench. He can’t shoulder the defensive load and he’s not dangerous enough to waste on one of the side spots.

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      • Bradley already moved to the 6 as a safe keeping move 😉 The guy that is holding his spot for now in midfield is Sacha.

      • I guess it wasn’t clear; I meant Bradley should no longer be considered for the CDM (destroyer or #6, whichever you prefer) since he can’t shoulder the defensive load when asked to stay and cover the CBs. If Pulisic plays that CAM/#10/playmaker role, and it seems he’s as good an option we’ve had there as ever, we need a guy like Beckerman who will park himself in front of the back four and not get caught drifting too far forward or holding the ball too long.

        Sacha would be easily pushed out if not for Pulisic’s versatility and the “safe” option of playing him as a winger where the game doesn’t have to go through him

  2. Pulisic involved early, almost an assist. I think it’s fair to say he has overtaken Dembele on form if not in ability in that pool of outside mids and wingers, and with the added bonus that he can move inside and play centrally (he moved to a CAM role against Sporting after Tuchel made some subs–I forget exactly who replaced whom, but he slid into Gotze’s spot).

    My German is rusty but the guys on this stream seem to like him, too, despite that he just missed a goal high and wide. His movement is just so far beyond what a player his age normally shows.

    Unfortunately, Green again not in the squad for Bowel Movement. Ancelotti would sooner play a 4-6-0 than give Green minutes in an important match. I guess he’s just a league cup guy now. Disappointing after a strong preseason and an effective performance in his only minutes so far. What might have been had he stayed in Hamburg and gotten to partner with Bobby Wood on a regular basis? Still hoping BM hits a rash of injuries so Green can get some action, because that looks like his only shot at meaningful time.

    Reply
    • Hamburg is the Sunderland of the Bundesliga. Constant manager rotation, always playing negative defense minded football hoping for enough nil nil draws to avoid relegation.

      Reply
    • Forgot to add, for context to that Dembele comment, that Pulisic is playing mostly on the left. Much more dangerous there than on the right, in my opinion.

      Reply

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