Games To Watch This Weekend

With a relatively lazy Friday as far as soccer news is concerned, I thought I'd put out a quick primer for the weekend's most interesting matchups. This is something I'll be doing sporadically throughout the year, though more so for domestic and continental cup competitions (when English teams are involved) rather than the Premierhip.

Tomorrow:
Tottenham vs. Sunderland -- Neither team got a result in their respective opening games last week, but Sunderland looked more impressive in their 1-0 loss against Liverpool than Tottenham did in their 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough. The Black Cats were even with Rafa's boys all game long until a thunderbolt from Fernando Torres won it. Spurs needed an own goal in second half stoppage time just to account for the final scoreline. Boro played them off the park in that match.

The so-called "Tottenham trio" — Pascal Chimbonda, Teemu Tainio, and Steed Malbranque — will be returning to White Hart Lane for the first time since moving to Sunderland this summer. You can bet Chimbonda and Malbranque will be motivated to play well against the team that gave up on them. The three players each spent a couple seasons at Tottenham, though Tainio probably had the most success. He’ll miss this game with a muscle strain.

Tottenham made it clear through their summer signings that they're pushing for a place in the Champions League. Performances like the one they turned in last week aren't going get to it done, obviously. Sunderland, on the other hand, wants to stabilize their position in England's top flight and then push their way up the table. This is the perfect opponent for them -- one who struggles to defend. Sunderland won't score many goals without star striker Kenwyne Jones, but if they can find a way to steal one or two tomorrow, this is a game from which they can pick up points.

Sunday:
Manchester City vs. West Ham -- City opens their home schedule coming off a 4-2 shellacking at the hands of Aston Villa last week. That loss isn't the main concern at the Eastlands right now, though, as news broke tonight that owner Thaksin Shinawatra, one of the most corrupt men in all of soccer, is preparing to resign from his position or, at the very least, sell some of his stake in the club. Instability is the name of the game right now in that area of Manchester.

His team doesn't have much up front, which is a huge concern for manager Mark Hughes. Daniel Sturridge played very well off the bench at Villa, but he's not ready to be a full-time starter. Valeri Bojonov is injured once again, as are Benjani and Darius Vassell. Chedwyn Evans and Sturridge are all City has for the time being, at least until record signing Jô comes back from his Olympic duty for Brazil.

West Ham picked up three points in a solid 2-1 win over Wigan at Upton Park. Dean Ashton scored both goals and would've earned himself another look-in to the England national team, but the striker came off with a cramp in his lower leg and was not selected by Fabio Capello. He should be ready to play tomorrow against a defense that was torn to shreds by Villa's firepower.

If City loses on Sunday, make sure you turn up the volume when the final whistle is blown. Nothing like the clear sound of "boos" to get you going early in the morning, I always say.

Monday:
Portsmouth vs. Manchester United -- Make no mistake: this is not the same Manchester United team that won the Premiership a year ago. Cristiano Ronaldo's absence affects United as much as the loss of any one player from any team in the world. Without him, Sir Alex Ferguson's team is vulnerable and struggles to score goals, which we saw in their 1-1 draw against Newcastle last week. No disrespect to Newcastle, but United beat them 6-0 at home last year when Ronaldo played (he had a hat trick), and Newcastle hasn't improved their roster that much since then.

For their part, Portsmouth looked nothing like they did last season in their 4-0 spanking at Stamford Bridge last Sunday. Chelsea dominated the game -- Pompey had a hard time advancing past midfield for stretches of the 90 minutes.

United and Pompey have developed a very nice little rivalry over the past few seasons, one that saw Sulley Muntari and Ronaldo get sent off in a two-minute span in the corresponding fixture last year, a game that ended 1-1. United won the second league game between the two 2-0, but Pompey returned the favor by knocking the Red Devils out of the FA Cup, a competition eventually won by the South Coasters. Just two weeks ago, United triumphed over 'Arry Redknapp's side in PK's in the season-opening Community Shield.

There's nothing like a Monday night game at Fratton Park. The crowd will be buzzing for an upset, one which wouldn't be too surprising from this writer's point of view.

Should be a good weekend in the Premiership.

Premiership Preview--13. Sunderland

Backed by the loudest supporters in the Premier League last season, measured at average peak volume at 129.2 decibels, almost as loud as a jet, Sunderland will look to improve on last season's respectable 15th-place finish. The Black Cats were the only newly-promoted team to survive in the Premiership, an accomplishment in itself, but manager Roy Keane has made it clear through his summer signings that he wants more from his club.

Keane, the youngest manager in England's top division, has added six players so far, four of whom figure to play right away in some capacity or another, including the trio acquired from Tottenham. Pascal Chimbonda will be the first-choice right back and bring stability to a position in which Keane started six different players last season, four at least eight times. Steed Malbranque can play virtually anywhere in midfield, but will likely feature on the left flank for Sunderland as Ross Wallace was loaned out to Preston North End. Teemu Tainio is another versatile player, capable of playing both full back positions or on either wing, and could be used as quality cover in case of injury. El-Hadji Diouf was signed from Bolton and will play either as Kenwyne Jones' partner up front or on the right wing opposite Malbranque.

Sunderland lost no one of importance; Andy Cole was the biggest name to leave the Stadium of Light, but he started only three games up front and was no higher than fourth on the depth chart at that position. Greg Halford started eight games at right back last season, but was deemed expendable when Chimbonda signed on.

Adding Malbranque, Tainio, and Diouf reinforced Sunderland's strongest asset -- their midfield. Aside from those three, who were just discussed, Carlos Edwards and Kieran Richardson are speedy, capable wide players when healthy, Grant Leadbitter can play any midfield position and is Sunderland through and through, Dwight Yorke brings much-needed leadership and experience to the otherwise-young roster from his central role, Dickson Etuhu is the club's holding player above the back four, and the captain, Dean Whitehead, will play anywhere he's asked to play but is naturally a center midfielder.

Projected Starting Lineup (4-4-2):
GK: Craig Gordon

RB: Chimbonda
CB: Nyron Nosworthy
CB: Danny Higginbotham
LB: Danny Collins

*RMF: Edwards
DMF: Etuhu
CMF: Whitehead (captain)
LMF: Malbranque

*ST: Diouf
ST: Michael Chopra

*This is pending the results of Kenwyne Jones' knee operation. When Jones is healthy, he'll start with Chopra and push Diouf to right wing in place of Edwards.

As we saw last year, this formation isn't rigid and Keane really swaps players in and out of the starting lineup based on their form, especially in the midfield. The four I listed there will change regularly, probably more so than any team I've previewed so far, because the club is deepest in that area. Yorke will play his share of games, especially against the league's better teams, Richardson will get his chances, as will Leadbitter. Keane also employs a 4-5-1 from time to time, in which instance Jones is the lone striker.

Sunderland has their hands full to start the season with three consecutive games against European participants -- home to Liverpool (Champions League), at Tottenham (UEFA Cup), and home against Manchester City (UEFA Cup). After that, they'll see Wigan, host Middlesbrough in the first Tees-Wear Derby of the season, travel to Aston Villa, and welcome Arsenal to the Stadium of Light. Those are seven difficult matches, to say the least, so anything more than seven points would have to be considered a bonus.

Late November and early December brings a stretch of four winnable games in five: Bolton, West Brom, @Hull City, and Blackburn. Those games are interrupted only by Roy Keane's second return to Old Trafford as a manager, which should be entertaining.

January could be a pivotal month for the Black Cats. They'll play two local derbies -- @Middlesbrough to start the month, @Newcastle to end it in the Tyne-Wear fixture -- and host Aston Villa and Fulham in between. All bets are off in those rivalry games, but they really need to win of those and it'd be nice from a Sunderland point of view to win those two matches at home.

They close out the year with home games against Everton and Chelsea, sandwiched around trips to Bolton and Portsmouth. The run-in is another tough month for Keane's scrappy bunch, though they should be safe in the table by then.

Bottom Line: Keane showed me a lot last season, his first as a Premiership manager, and he's only going to get better as the years progress. The club has spent money and added some nice pieces to the roster, which is now significantly deeper than it had been. A lot hinges on the health of Jones; he's their main scoring threat and if he's out for any considerable length of time, they may be in trouble. Playing in front of that boisterous crowd is a huge advantage -- 9 home wins was 8th-most in the league last year -- but they have to improve on the road. With the experience Keane has brought in, I think they will.

We'll move closer to the top half of the table tomorrow as the countdown continues with places 12 and 11.

Fulham Needs Victory Against Sunderland

The title of this post says it all.

It's straightforward for the Cottagers. Anything but a win against Sunderland tomorrow and Fulham can start packing their bags for the Coca-Cola Championship next year. Instead of lucrative home games against the likes of historic Premiership city rivals like Tottenham, Arsenal, and Chelsea, the fans at Craven Cottage will have to get used to seeing their team play Queens Park Rangers (QPR) and Crystal Palace.

Fortunately for Fulham, tomorrow's match will be played in London and Sunderland has struggled mightily away from home all season. The Black Cats have managed just one win in 16 road games and taken only four points outside of the Stadium of Light, but, to their credit, that one win came at a pretty good Aston Villa team on March 22. Possible starter Dwight Yorke will miss the game due to a knee injury, and Dickson Etuhu won't take any part either, also because of a knee problem. Fulham is healthy and ready to go, having been unbeaten in three of their last four contests.

Right now, Fulham is six points adrift of 17th place, where they need to be at the end of the season to avoid relegation. With the 24 points they have now, it appears like they'll need to find a way to earn anywhere from 6-9 more to escape the drop. A victory tomorrow and that task would become far more manageable, but a loss and Fulham are doomed with the schedule they still have to navigate.

Hypothetically, let's say that they do scratch out a win. That would probably vault the West London club into 18th place ahead of Bolton, who seem unlikely to go to Villa Park and get anything from their hosts. Birmingham, in 17th, travel to Wigan in a huge six-pointer as those two teams are separated by only one point and one place in the standings at the moment. Fulham will be rooting for either a draw in that game or a Wigan victory, because either would make climbing out of a relegation spot more realistic.

After tomorrow, Fulham will travel to Reading and take on another team in the relegation battle. The Cottagers are eight points behind Reading right now, but two consecutive victories could see that deficit slashed to two heading into the last four games of the season. Reading is alright at home, but they've conceded more goals at the Madejski than they've scored and that will give Fulham some hope.

The key game of the season in the quest to stay in England's top flight could very well come on May 3, the second-to-last weekend of the year. Fulham will welcome none other than Birmingham to Craven Cottage and their guests are another team that are absolutely abysmal on the road. At that point, Fulham would need to be two points (or less) behind to leap into what could be safety, because their goal differential is inferior to Birmingham's and that is the first tiebreaker if needed.

It's no secret that I have a soft spot for Fulham, given the fact that their roster is loaded with Americans and I want to see them do well. I also picked them to finish 13th this season, which may have been a bit of a reach, but I'm rooting for them to make me look good. Guys like Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey, and Kasey Keller all deserve better than the Championship and I'm hoping their team stays up.

It all starts tomorrow though, and Fulham desperately, desperately needs to beat Sunderland. Failing to do so wouldn't result in mathematical relegation yet, but they could very well need to run the table to remain in the Premiership and that's unrealistic. A win and Fulham would be in business.

The last six games of the season are going to be extremely enjoyable for viewers, as we have a little bit of a title race and a full-on relegation battle. Here's to Fulham coming away with three points tomorrow.

A Trio of Six-Pointers

Things have been pretty busy in the soccer world recently at least as far as this site goes, what with the African Cup of Nations in full swing and the FA Cup 4th Round ties and 5th Round draw over the past few days.

Let’s not forget the bread and butter though. Premier League action heats up again with a round of midweek games, starting with four tomorrow and then five on Wednesday. Three of tomorrow’s matches are extremely, extremely important and so I wanted to give you a brief preview of what to watch for. These games are the definition of the term “six-pointers”, as each of the six teams involved are in the relegation fight and could either go three points closer to safety or three more points behind the teams they’re chasing in the battle to remain in the Premier League.

Middlesbrough (13th; 22 pts) vs. Wigan (17th; 20 pts):

This will be game #1 of the post-Jonathan Woodgate era at Middlesbrough. Say what you like about Woodgate and how injury-prone he is, but he’s a quality center-back and his presence will sorely be missed at the Riverside, especially as Boro have already conceded 37 goals this season. They’ve won just once in their last six league matches and only twice at home all season. Both Tuncay Sanli and Gary O’Neil should return to the lineup, however, and that will be a boost to Gareth Southgate’s club.

Marlon King should be set to make his debut for Wigan after recently joining the Lancashire side from Watford. King is a serviceable striker who will help Wigan up front; they’ve scored only 23 goals in as many matches this season. They’ve won just once away from the JJB this year but have earned points in five out of their last seven league games, including their sole road win at Derby. As a sidenote, this will be Wigan’s 100th match in the Premier League.

Bolton (15th; 21 pts) vs. Fulham (19th; 15 pts):

Out of the six clubs I’ve highlighted today, I think these two need a victory the most.

Bolton lack any type of scoring punch now that Nicolas Anelka has continued his nomadic ways and moved to Chelsea, and the likely signing of Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill doesn’t address that need whatsoever. The Trotters have won just twice in their last seven league games and those wins came against Derby and Birmingham. El-Hadji Diouf and Abdoulaye Meite are both away due to African Cup of Nations duty and that doesn’t help matters at all.

One thing that does work in Bolton’s favor, however, is Fulham’s awful road form. Bolton have been solid at home this season (5-3-4) and Fulham have picked up only four points in eleven away league matches so far (0-4-7). The Cottagers actually hadn’t won away from home in the 2007 calendar year either, so Bolton should have the advantage tomorrow in that regard. Fulham will need Clint Dempsey to have a good game tomorrow if they have any hope of gaining a much-needed three points.

Sunderland (18th; 20 pts) vs. Birmingham City (16th; 20 pts):

Sunderland will head into tomorrow’s match with a much-weakened side as Michael Chopra, Danny Higginbotham, Grant Leadbitter, Ross Wallace, Kieran Richardson, Carlos Edwards, and Dickson Etuhu will all be out and each of those players has had an appreciable role with the club this season. The Black Cats have shown improvement recently with two wins in their last five league matches, including the dominant 2-0 win against Portsmouth at the Stadium of Light on January 13. Kenwyne Jones is capable of scoring every time he walks onto the field and Birmingham will likely have trouble containing him in the air.

The Blues have the most away wins (2) out of any team in the bottom seven in the Premiership and will likely hand James McFadden his first start since his recent move from Everton. Mauro Zarate has joined the club on loan as well and trust me, this kid is a star in the making. He scored the winning goal for the Argentine U-20 team in the final of last summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup against the Czech Republic, and was the co-top scorer in the Argentine Apertura in 2006-2007 with 12 goals. Birmingham are healthy and will have every opportunity to steal a victory on the road, although they’ll have to earn it as Sunderland are 5-3-3 on home turf this season.

Season Summaries--16. Sunderland

16. Sunderland (My preseason prediction: 17th)

I'll tell you what, Sunderland boss Roy Keane has done an outstanding job at the Stadium of Light, not just in leading the Black Cats to promotion last season but also guiding them through some times this season. If you based the table on competitiveness and how hard each team plays, Sunderland would be much higher up than they currently are and I'm very impressed with how they've competed in almost every single game this season.

With all of that being said, however, the table is based on points and right now, Sunderland have 10 through 13 games. They've already played Liverpool (2-0 loss), Arsenal (3-2 loss), and Manchester United (1-0 loss), but unfortunately for them, they've also played Wigan, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, and Fulham, and didn't gain enough points from those four games to create a buffer zone between them and the teams in the relegation battle. Trinidad and Tobago international striker Kenwyne Jones has been a revelation for the Black Cats (a poor man's Didier Drogba), and Craig Gordon has been pretty good between the sticks despite the team's overall record. Kieran Richardson's return from injury will be a major boost for this club as he played well in the three games before he got hurt and provides pace down the wing and good aerial service for Jones. I don't think Sunderland will go down this season and a lot of that is based on just pure grit, heart, and effort, things that can make up for a lack of widespread talent and things that Wigan, Boro, and Derby don't have.

Setanta's Bonehead Move of the Day

So there I was this morning, on the couch eating some stuffed crust pizza, sitting with my brother watching the pretty intense Sunderland-Newcastle game on Setanta. This edition of the Tyne-Wear northeast derby was a cracking one; the action went back and forth and as the game was tied 1-1 heading into stoppage time, there surely looked to be a winner (there wasn't, the game ended 1-1).

In or about the 87th minute, the game feed suddenly cut off and we saw a live look-in at an empty Anfield, where the game between Liverpool and Fulham wasn't scheduled to kick off for another couple hours. One of the studio hosts was in the middle of a conversation about a Blue Square South team (no, not Blue Square North or Premier!), and then it went to commercial for a few minutes. Finally the Sunderland-Newcastle game came on again, but by that time it was the 92nd minute and the game was basically over.

Simply put, that's pathetic. How can the folks at Setanta take the viewers away from a derby game like that? Maybe I don't understand the technical part of the whole situation, but believe me, I've watched enough sports in my day to know that that wasn't supposed to happen, and in all the years I've watched ESPN or even more recently, FSC, that's never happened.

Garbage!

Premiership Preview--17. Sunderland

17. Championship winner Sunderland should acquit themselves better this time around in the Premiership then they did in their last season there (2005-2006) when they recorded just 15 points and were the joke of the league. Irish manager Roy Keane took over the reins a few games into the Championship season last year and turned what was a disatrous start into a promotion for the Wearside club.

The difference between Sunderland and the three teams below them could very well turn out to be the higher level of talent that Sunderland brought in this summer. Derby County, Birmingham, and Wigan didn't really improve their team; in fact, Wigan's team looks worse (at least on paper) than the side they put on the field last season. Sunderland acquired, amongst others, Kieran Richardson from Manchester United to give the team some pace and skill on the wing, fellow 22-year old Greg Halford, who's extremely versatile and should start in the back, and 23-year old striker Michael Chopra, who scored 22 goals in 42 league matches for Cardiff City last season. This infusion of youth will help provide some excitement and speed to a team that, if they can manage to stay up this season, should be on the rise and has the potential to be a better team down the road. By the same token, there's not a whole lot of players with considerable top-flight experience, other than Dwight Yorke and maybe Kieran Richardson. Young players are extremly susceptible to pressure and aren't as well-suited for competitive, high-level games as veterans are. If these players can grow up and mature on the fly, Sunderland should stay up.

Sunderland's schedule also sets up in a way that seems to give the club every chance to remain in the Premiership. December is the toughest month by far, with road games at Chelsea and Reading and home dates with Aston Villa, Bolton, and Manchester United. Their four games in April are all against mid-table teams, so 8-10 points wouldn't be unreasonable, and just 30 points from all of their previous games should mean safety for the Black Cats. The last two matches of the year could be make-or-break for Sunderland, with a trip to Bolton followed by a home match with Arsenal on the last day of the season.

Bottom Line-As I said before, if Sunderland's young players grow up and accept the pressure of playing in England's top flight, this club has the talent to stay up. Roy Keane is the type of manager who will get the best out of his players through whatever means necessary. His fiery personality should transfer itself onto his players and in the end, Sunderland will remain in the Premiership.

Harewood to Aston Villa, Richardson to Sunderland

Marlon Harewood finally left West Ham officially today to sign a three-year contract with Aston Villa. The 27-year old striker scored 47 goals in 142 Premier League appearances with West Ham after joining the East London side from Nottingham Forest, and now gives Aston Villa four solid options at the striker position (Ashley Young, John Carew, and Gabriel Agbonlahor being the other three). Harewood may have been influenced by his old teammate Nigel Reo-Coker's move to Villa this summer. The transfer fee was $7.1 million US, which is a relatively cheap sum of money with the way strikers have been going this summer, especially when you consider Harewood is a proven goalscorer with the exception of this season.


Kieran Richardson moved to Sunderland yesterday, and I believe this signing will lead to nothing but good things for the newly-promoted club. Richardson was never given much of a chance with Manchester United as they had Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo playing on the wings, and the champions' acquisition of Nani over the summer basically shut the door on Richardson's career in Manchester.

That said, he's still only 22 years old and at one time, Richardson was one of the hottest young prospects around. He's signed a four-year contract to play for his former teammate at Manchester United, Roy Keane, and like I said before, this could be a very rewarding move for both parties involved. Richardson needs to play regularly to improve and to reclaim a spot on the English national team and Sunderland will benefit from Richardson's pace and considerable talent. The transfer fee is rumored to be somewhere around $11 million US, but that's not an outlandish price for a still-young player who can really help Sunderland for the next four seasons.

Roundup of Recent Friendlies

•Manchester City-3, Doncaster-1
•Manchester City-4, Orgryte-1
•Manchester City-2, Shrewsbury-0
•Manchester City-0, Valencia-1
•Arsenal-2, Barnet-0
•Arsenal-3, Genclerbirligi-0
•Arsenal-0, SV Salzburg-1
•Arsenal-2, Paris Saint-Germain-1 (Emirates Cup)
•Arsenal-2, Inter Milan-1 (Emirates Cup; Arsenal wins Emirates Cup)
•Arsenal-2, Lazio-1 (Amsterdam Tournament)
•Liverpool-3, Crewe-0
•Liverpool-3, Werder Bremen-2
•Liverpool-2, Auxerre-0
•Liverpool-3, South China-1 (Barclays Asia Trophy)
•Liverpool-2, Shanghai Shenhua-0 (Port of Rotterdam Tournament)
•Liverpool-1, Feyenoord-1
•Bolton-2, Chivas Guadalajara-0 (Peace Cup)
•Bolton-2, Racing Santander-1 (Peace Cup)
•Bolton-0, Lyon-1 (Peace Cup Final, Bolton wins Peace Cup)
•Bolton-3, Espanyol-0
•Reading-0, River Plate-1 (Peace Cup)
•Reading-1, Lyon-0 (Peace Cup)
•Reading-1, Shimizu S-Pulse-0 (Peace Cup)
•Reading-6, Brentford-1
•Reading-3, Wolverhampton-2
•Portsmouth-2, Yeovil-0
•Portsmouth-2, Havant & Waterlooville-0
•Portsmouth-1, Eastleigh-0
•Portsmouth-1, Fulham-0 (Barclays Asia Trophy)
•Portsmouth-0, Liverpool-0 (Portsmouth wins on PK’s, Barclays Asia Trophy Final)
•Portsmouth-4, Bournemouth-1
•Portsmouth-3, Leicester City-1
•West Ham-2, Dagenham and Redbridge-0
•West Ham-1, Leyton Orient-1
•West Ham-2, MK Dons-3
•West Ham-3, Southend United-1
•West Ham-2, AC Roma-1
•Chelsea-2, Club America-1 (World Series of Football)
•Chelsea-1, Suwon Bluewings-0 (World Series of Football)
•Chelsea-1, LA Galaxy-0 (World Series of Football)
•Chelsea-1, Feyenoord-1
•Chelsea-0, Rangers-2
•Chelsea-2, Brondby-0
•Middlesbrough-0, FC Schalke-3
•Middlesbrough-1, Burnley-1
•Middlesbrough-2, Darlington-0
•Manchester United-2, Urawa Red Diamonds-2
•Manchester United-4, FC Seoul-0
•Manchester United-6, Shenzhen Jianlibao-0
•Manchester United Reserves-2, Port Vale-3
•Manchester United-3, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical-0
•Manchester United-2, Inter Milan-3
•Manchester United-2, Doncaster-0
•Manchester United-3, Glentoran-0
•Manchester United-4, Dunfermline-0
•Newcastle-3, Hartlepool-1
•Newcastle-1, Carlisle United-1
•Newcastle-4, Celtic-1
•Newcastle-0, Hull City-1
•Newcastle-2, Juventus-0
•Newcastle-1, Sampdoria-0
•Fulham-1, Dagenham & Redbridge-0
•Fulham-4, South China-1 (Barclays Asia Trophy)
•Fulham-1, QPR-2
•Sunderland-2, Darlington-0
•Sunderland-4, Galway United-0
•Sunderland-1, Juventus-1
•Tottenham-2, Kaizer Chiefs-1
•Tottenham-2, Orlando Pirates-1
•Tottenham-3, Orlando Pirates-0 (Tottenham wins Vodacom Challenge Trophy)
•Tottenham-4, Leyton Orient-2
•Tottenham-2, Torino-0
•Everton-0, Real Salt Lake-2
•Everton-4, Ventura County Fusion (PDL)-0
•Everton-2, Werder Bremen-2
•Everton-0, Crystal Palace-0
•Aston Villa-4, Toronto FC-2
•Aston Villa-3, Columbus Crew-1
•Aston Villa-2, Stoke City-0
•Aston Villa-3, Inter Milan-0
•Wigan Athletic-2, Blackpool-1
•Wigan Athletic-2, Barnsley-0
•Wigan Athletic-2, Leeds United-1
•Derby County-2, Nottingham Forest-0 (Derby County wins inaugural Brian
Clough Trophy)
•Derby County-2, Espanyol-2
•Blackburn-1, Huddersfield-2
•Blackburn-3, Preston North End-0
•Birmingham-3, Peterborough-0

Note: Premiership team listed first, NOT home team

Sunderland To Host Juventus in Friendly

The famed Italian club, newly returned to Serie A,
will visit the Stadium of Light for a pre-season friendly on Saturday, August 4, a week before the Premiership schedule starts. The match is designed to help mark 10 years at the Stadium of Light, a beautiful 49,000-seat UEFA four-star ground that cost only 34 million pounds ($67.7 million US) to build.

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn told the club's website that he was pleased to welcome Juventus to England:

"Juventus is one of the biggest clubs on the world stage, with countless European successes as well as a superb domestic record.

"There have been some legendary players to have represented the club over the years and it will be an honour to welcome some household names to the Stadium of Light when they come here."

Derby County On To the Premiership

In a game that was not as up-and-down or exciting to watch as advertised, Derby County made a 61st minute goal by Stephen Pearson stand up and held on for a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. Talented English youngster Giles Barnes, who surprisingly did not start today, came off the bench and provided a brilliant low cross to allow Pearson to literally slide the ball home. It was Pearson's first goal in a Derby uniform and you can't imagine how much it meant for his side and for the fans who had longed to see Derby back in the Premiership.

Graham Poll handed out 8 yellow cards in total today (5 to Derby, 3 to West Brom), though a few of them were questionable; I'm not sure if they merited a yellow card but Poll is one of the better referees in England in my opinion so I trust his judgment. Poll has stated that he will retire, and many managers will be happy to see him go as he been the center of many a controversy over the years, most notably the World Cup game in 2006 between Australia and Croatia where he handed out three yellow cards to the same Croatian player before dismissing him.

Great crowd at Wembley today. The new stadium can hold 90,000 for soccer and the official attendance was 74,993, which is great for a Championship final, considering neither team is based near London.

Congratulations to the Rams, it's back to England's top flight for them next season after a five-year absence.

Stephen Pearson's goal can be found here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23y91_10-pearson

New Jerseys for 2007-2008 (Continued)

As noted at eplleague.blogspot.com today (May 26), the champions of the Championship, Sunderland, have released their latest away jersey. The club's logo is found at the upper right of the picture (the model's upper left), and the jersey keeps with Sunderland's traditional colors, as it should.

Jersey designer-Umbro



Manchester City unveiled their new home jersey about two weeks ago (May 14). Again, the team's logo is prominently displayed though the ThomasCook.com is a bit too large and takes away from the overall aesthetics of the shirt. New York Yankees-style pinstripes are included as well, which is a nice touch. Manchester City have a classy new home jersey for next season, but can they manage to score more than 10 goals in it? We'll see.

Jersey designer-Le Coq Sportif

Everton introduced their new home jersey on the team's official website on May 3. This jersey is a bit more traditional than the two mentioned above in terms of its similarities to last year's edition, but a hint of yellow around the collar is something the club did not have on their home jerseys for the '06-'07 season. It also appears to be a darker shade of blue; and the reason for this change is unclear. All the logos (Umbro, Chang, and Everton's) are located in the same place, and this jersey is not a dramatic change from last year's.

Jersey designer-Umbro

Tottenham unleashed their own version of the rainbow on May 12, with four new jerseys scheduled to debut in 2007: White (home), Yellow (away, and hideous), Dark Blue (third jersey), and Half-White, Half-Light Blue (125th anniversary shirt). Are four jerseys really necessary? There is most likely a color which every fan likes, but four jerseys seems a bit much.

Jersey designer-Puma