Game(s) of the Week (Rankings from Poll)
11:00 ET Sunday (English Premier League)
(T7) Arsenal v (1) Chelsea – FSC
This is the game of the weekend in the Premier League, the big London derby. Chelsea is top of the table and Arsenal sit 8 points back in 3rd, though Chelsea has played one more game. Both clubs are coming off of midweek wins in the Champions League so the Sunday match time will be beneficial to both teams. Arsenal is coming off of a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland in the league, where they were without striker Robin van Persie. They will be without van Persie again this week, as well as Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Nicklas Bendtner, and possibly William Gallas. Chelsea does not have those injury problems, with only Jose Bosingwa out as Frank Lampard is set to return. Chelsea and Arsenal lead the league with 33 and 36 goals respectively, though Chelsea has only given up 8 goals in 13 matches. Both Didier Drogba and Nicholas Anelka have good histories against Arsenal and the injury-plagued Gunner defense will have to work to stop the attack if they wish to stay in the race for the championship this season. The away side won all matches between the teams last season, including a 2-1 win for Chelsea in the FA Cup semis in mid-April and a 4-1 win for Chelsea at Arsenal in mid-May. Look for Arsenal to deploy Andrei Arshavin, Theo Walcott, and Eduardo in the attack, and hopefully we will see goals early and often.
My Pick: Arsenal 2, Chelsea 2
13:00 ET Sunday (Spain’s La Liga)
(T3) Barcelona v (6) Real Madrid – GolTV, ESPN360
Spain is gearing up for the first Clasico of the season and the first with the new version of the “Galacticos” of Real Madrid. Madrid will hope to have a fully-fit Cristiano Ronaldo, as he returned to action as a sub late in their mid-week clash with FC Zurich after almost two months out with an ankle injury. The loss of Ronaldo had an obvious effect on Madrid, as they only won two of their six games in October including the embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Alcorcon (which Ronaldo likely would not have played in anyway). Madrid has turned it on slightly lately, with a decent draw at Milan at the start of the month and four consecutive wins since then, including a measly 1-0 victory over that pesky Alcorcon side. Still, they sit atop La Liga with a 9-1-1 record, one point ahead of Barcelona. Barcelona is still undefeated on the season but have drawn 3 of their last 5 games, at Valencia, Osasuna, and Athletic Bilbao. A Champions League group that has been more difficult than expected can maybe be at fault for some of these matches. Anyone who watched Barcelona-Inter Milan midweek saw how Barcelona can still dismantle a quality opponent even without superstars Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi. These two strikers have both begun training with the first team again, and hopefully they will be ready to contribute to this already star-studded affair. Word on the street is that Madrid will deploy Ronaldo and Karim Benzema up top with Kaka just behind to form a formidable attack of their own. The Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi rematch will be fun to watch after they met in the Champions League final last season. This is the reason Madrid spent so much money in the off-season constructing the ‘perfect squad.’ Barcelona ran away with the treble last season, and until Madrid proves it can beat Barcelona, Barcelona will remain the top team in Spain.
My Pick: Barcelona 3, Real Madrid 2 in a thriller.
Other Games between two ranked teams
9:00 ET Sunday
(T3) Inter Milan v (24) Fiorentina – FSC
Inter Milan will be glad to return to Serie A action after they were absolutely out-classed at Barcelona mid-week. Inter Milan has won 6 of 7 at home in the league, the only exception being a 1-1 draw against Roma on November 8, which came only 4 days after a trip to Ukraine to meet Dynamo Kiev. Possibly the most impressive streak in European football is at stake, which is Jose Mourinho’s 150 game unbeaten streak at home in the league and domestic cup competitions, which dates back to his time with Porto. Fiorentina, on the other hand, had a much happier midweek European intervention, as they defeated Lyon 1-0 at home to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition for the first time in club history. However, in their last Serie A match, they lost 3-2 to Parma and sit sixth in the league, a full 11 points behind Inter Milan. Fiorentina’s Adrian Mutu is still out, and it will likely be Alberto Gilardino on his own up top against the attack of the Diego Milito and the slightly disappointing Eto’o for Inter Milan. Both teams will be coming out with something to prove after disappointing results at some point in the last week, and Inter Milan will have to make sure they are not looking ahead to their huge matches against Juventus and Rubin Kazan in the coming two weeks.
My Pick: Inter Milan 2, Fiorentina 1. Fiorentina will drop a bit more in the league before making their inevitable comeback.
Top of the Table Clashes
9:30 ET Sunday (Austrian Bundesliga)
Red Bull Salzburg v Rapid Vienna
Both clubs share an identical 10-4-2 record after 16 games, and Rapid Vienna holds first place on goal differential (+23 to +19). The first meeting of the season resulted in a 2-2 draw in Vienna. Salzburg has dominated its Europa League group, with a perfect 4-0-0 record including an impressive 2-1 win at Lazio and a home 2-0 win over Villarreal. Rapid Vienna has a 3-0 win over Hamburg in the Europa League but sit in third place behind Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Hamburg and ahead of Celtic. Salzburg won the league last year by 4 points over Rapid Vienna, so Vienna will be looking for revenge.
11:30 ET Sunday (Greek Super League)
Olympiakos v Panathinaikos
“The Derby Of Eternal Enemies” – Panathinaikos is in first in the Greek Super League with 29 points from 11 games, two points ahead of Olympiakos. Panathinaikos has been spurred on by the two-pronged attack of Djibril Cisse and Kostas Katsouranis, who have scored 8 and 6 goals respectively. Both squads have only given up 6 goals on the season in the relatively low scoring Greek league. Olympiakos has drawn their past two Greek Super League matches and have not won a game in any competition since October 31. Both teams remain unbeaten in the league so this will be a hard fought match. Interestingly enough, the last four matches between the two teams in the league have all been draws.
13:00 ET Sunday (Spain’s La Liga)
(T3) Barcelona v (6) Real Madrid – GolTV, ESPN360
See Russian Premier League
English Premier League
10:00 ET Saturday
Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City
Fulham v Bolton Wanderers
(T15) Manchester City v Hull City
Portsmouth v (2) Manchester United – ESPN2
West Ham United v Burnley – FSC
Wigan Athletic v Sunderland – FSC (delayed)
12:30 ET Saturday
Aston Villa v (11) Tottenham Hotspur – FSC
7:00 ET Sunday
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Birmingham – FSC (Delayed)
8:30 ET Sunday
Everton v Liverpool
The “Merseyside Derby” – Everton is coming off of a tough 3-2 loss at Hull City midweek, which is nothing compared to the devastation of Liverpool being officially eliminated from the Champions League. Liverpool is enduring a nightmare of a season and a win against friendly rivals Everton would help ease the pressure on Rafa Benitez.
11:00 ET Sunday
(T7) Arsenal v (1) Chelsea – FSC
Scottish Premier League
7:45 ET Saturday
Aberdeen v Rangers
10:00 ET Saturday
Celtic v St. Mirren
Motherwell v Dundee United
Spain’s La Liga
12:00 ET Saturday
Sporting Gijon v Villarreal – GolTV
14:00 ET Saturday
(21) Valencia v Mallorca – ESPN360
16:00 ET Saturday
(5) Sevilla FC v Malaga – GolTV
11:00 ET Sunday
Racing Santander v Deportivo La Coruna
13:00 ET Sunday
(T3) Barcelona v (6) Real Madrid – GolTV, ESPN360
15:00 ET Sunday
Athletico Madrid v Espanyol – ESPN2, ESPN360
Italy’s Serie A
12:00 ET Saturday
Udinese v Livorno – ESPN360, FSC (Delayed)
14:45 ET Saturday
Genoa v (22) Sampdoria – FSC, ESPN360
9:00 ET Sunday
Atalanta v AS Roma
Cagliari v (T7) Juventus – ESPN360
(T3) Inter Milan v (24) Fiorentina – FSC
Parma v Napoli
14:45 ET Sunday
Catania v (9) AC Milan – FSC
German Bundesliga
9:30 ET Saturday
Mainz v (25) Hamburg SV
TSG Hoffenheim v Borussia Dortmund
(12) Werder Bremen v VfL Wolfsburg – ESPN360
Werder Bremen is currently 2nd in the Bundesliga, five points ahead of Wolfsburg, who sit in 8th. Bremen has not lost since the opening game of the Bundesliga season and is even undefeated in the Europa League. Meanwhile, Wolfsburg has only taken 5 points from the last 4 games in the Bundesliga and are in danger of dropping out of the Champions League, as they take on Manchester United in less than two weeks’ time. Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro is still suffering from a nagging foot injury and could be out for the rest of 2009.
12:30 ET Saturday
Borussia Monchengladbach v (T18) Schalke 04 – GolTV
9:30 AM Sunday
(10) Bayer Leverkusen v VfB Stuttgart
11:30 ET Sunday
Hannover 96 v Bayern Munich – ESPN360
French Ligue 1
13:00 ET Saturday
Paris Saint-Germain v AJ Auxerre
15:00 ET Saturday
Lens v Marseille
11:00 ET Sunday
AS Nancy Lorraine v Bordeaux
15:00 ET Sunday
Lyon v Stade Rennes
Dutch Eredivisie
14:45 ET Friday
Sparta Rotterdam v (23) PSV Eindhoven – ESPN360
12:45 ET Saturday
AZ Alkmaar v VVV Venlo
14:45 Saturday
Willem II Tilburg v (T15) Twente Enschede
6:30 ET Sunday
ADO Den Haag v Feyenoord Rotterdam
Vitesse Arnhem v (T18) Ajax Amsterdam – ESPN360
Portuguese Liga
16:15 ET Saturday
Sporting Lisbon v Benfica – ESPN360
Russian Premier League
The Russian Premier League is in its final matchday. Every team has played 29 games with just one left. First and second place get UEFA Champions League Group Stage spots, third place gets UEFA Champions League Third Qualifying Round spot, fourth place gets UEFA Europa League Playoff round spot, and fifth place gets UEFA Europa League Third qualifying round spot. Sixth gets nothing. A spot in the Europa League qualifying rounds will go to the winner of the Russian Cup, and only Zenit and FC Moscow still remain in that competition, which will conclude in 2010. Note that Lokomotiv Moscow are ahead of FC Moscow on head-to-head. FK Rubin Kazan and Spartak Moscow have clinched first and second places respectively.
| Team | GD | Pts |
| FK Rubin Kazan | +38 | 60 |
| Spartak Moscow | +29 | 55 |
| Zenit St. Petersburg | +20 | 51 |
| Lokomotiv Moscow | +11 | 51 |
| CSKA Moscow | +15 | 49 |
| FC Moscow | +12 | 48 |
6:00 ET Sunday
CSKA Moscow v Saturn Moscow
FC Khimki v Lokomotiv Moscow
FC Moscow v Dinamo Moscow
Kuban Krasnodar v FK Rubin Kazan
Zenit St. Petersburg v Spartak Moscow
Third through sixth places are still up for grabs in the Russian Premier League. Zenit faces a tough opponent in Spartak, but Spartak has nothing to play for and the game will be in St. Petersburg. Lokomotiv Moscow travels to FC Khimki, who has secured last place and a relegation spot, so Lokomotiv has a good chance of securing themselves a spot in Europe next fall. Both CSKA and FC Moscow face tough opponents at home in Saturn and Dinamo Moscow respectively, and they will likely be battling each other for the final European place. My prediction is that Zenit holds onto the Champions League qualifying spot while Lokomotiv and CSKA both remain in their Europa League slots.
Turkish Super League
13:00 ET Friday
Bursaspor v Galatasaray
13:00 ET Saturday
Fenerbehce v Kasimpasa
Belgian Jupiler League
14:30 ET Friday
Anderlecht v KV Kortrijk
Austrian Bundesliga
9:30 ET Sunday
Red Bull Salzburg v Rapid Vienna
Greek Super League
11:30 ET Sunday
Olympiakos v Panathinaikos
Also, I’d like to let everybody know that my prediction of Liverpool 2, Manchester City 2 was spot on last week. Leave your thoughts in the comments section! One week until the World Cup Draw, noon ET on ESPN2!
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