What to Watch This Weekend in Soccer: December 21st – 23rd
By Aaron Rench
Twas the weekend before Christmas and all through the land,
not a game would be played of the of MLS brand.
The season had ended in midwest fanfare,
but our friends in ol’ England kept us from dispair
The soccer which happened on morning weekends,
gave us something to think on, a manner of mends
to fix the dull doldrums of preseason hope
there was soccer abroad that helped us to cope.
Aerial view of the Emirates Stadium, the home facility for the Arsenal football club of the English Premier League. (Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)
Yes, here we are in December, ready for the MLS season to start, but the waiting must continue ’til March 8th before another match is played. Luckily, we have the English Premier League to hold us over. One of the many great things about soccer is that it never truly ends; there is always live, competitive soccer available to watch. Between the MLS and the EPL, Americans can have soccer every weekend. With the most of the games taking place during the morning hours, it’s almost like your watching Saturday morning cartoons again.
I won’t cover every game, but I’ll give you a quick preview of what to watch that will be shown on American television, but you can take a look at all the fixtures here. Unfortunately, this weekend only allows people who pay for the NBC Sports Network to watch the games. Sorry, folks.
Saturday is one of those days when the best teams meet the worst, and the middle teams meets the middle. There isn’t anything that catches your eye, but it doesn’t prevent soccer from being interesting. The games get better on Sunday, featuring four of the top ten teams in the league. The biggest game of the weekend comes on Monday when Arsenal takes on Chelsea for potential rites to the top spot on the line.
Saturday, December 21st
Liverpool v. Cardiff City; NBCSN, 7:45 AM Eastern
The fans of Anfield are having a tremendous season so far as their team currently sits in 2nd place, while they get to watch Luis Suarez play at a ridiculous level. He’s scored 27 goals in only 25 games. In his last game, he scored twice against a struggling Tottenham side, even though his team was missing captain Steven Gerrard and fellow striker Daniel Sturridge, who both appear to be out for the Cardiff game. Also missing the game due to the injury bug will be defenders Sebastian Coates and Jose Enrique.
Cardiff sit 15th in the table, only four points above the relegation zone, which was helped by their win last week over Hull City, which was Cardiff’s first win in six games.
The two sides have not met during league play in over 50 years. It’s not much of a rivalry, but you should definitely watch just to see Suarez this season. The dude is on fire.
Fulham v. Manchester City; NBCSN, 10:00 AM Eastern
One of the biggest headlines of this game will be about who is not on the pitch. Manchester City announced that Sergio Aguero would be out for a few weeks, keeping the club’s leading scorer from scoring like he has.
It will up to teammates Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo to make up the difference, although it will be tough. With 19 goals in 20 games, Aguero is the 2nd best player in league play right now, only being kept from the top spot by the afore mentioned Suarez.
Fulham place 19th in the EPL and are starring the relegation monster in the face. A win against Manchester City would be huge, phenomenally huge, but still unlikely. Lucky for head coach Rene Meulensteen, the schedule gets much easier with games against Norwich City (14th), Hull City (12th) and West Ham United (17th) all lined up in a row.
Sunday, December 22nd
Southampton v. Tottenham Hotspur; NBCSN, 8:30 AM Eastern
The Tottenham team has fallen a some hard times recently as they lost their last game 5-0 against Liverpool, and subsequently head coach Andre Villas-Boas was fired soon after. Tim Sherwood is standing in for now and has already seen the team lose to West Ham United in the Capitol One Cup match this last Tuesday.
Southampton has fallen on hard times as well, they are winless in their last five games. Of the top ten teams in the EPL, Southampton has scored the fewest goals with 20 during 16 league games.
Tottenham sits in 7th and Southampton at 9th. It wouldn’t be too terribly surprising for either team to come out on top, but it feels like Tottnham should be able to pull off the win.
Swansea City v. Everton; NBCSN, 11:00 AM Eastern
Everton finds itself in an undesirably good spot. They are so close to being one of the top teams that it hurts that they’re only 5th right now. They haven’t lost since the first weekend of October, and in their last five matches they ended games tied with Arsenal and Liverpool, the top two teams. With a win on Sunday, Everton has the chance to move into 3rd place with a loss by Manchester City (unlikely) and Chelsea (slightly more likely).
Exactly at the middle of the entire league, you’ll find Swanseas City, who rank 10th among the 20 teams. Watch for midfielder Jonjo Shelvey who has playing very well this season; he’s one of the most solid consistent players on the team.
The game will be controlled mostly by Everton, but don’t walk away from the TV too early. The last ten minutes sees Swansea score 28% of their goals during that time, while Everton gives up 25% of their total goals. It could get pretty exciting.
Monday, December 23rd
Arsenal v. Chelsea; NBCSN, 3 PM Eastern
This is the biggest game of the weekend, but more like the biggest game of the month. Arsenal is the top team in the EPL with 35 points and Chelsea is third with 33.
Arsenal will be without midfielder Jack Wilshire, who was suspended for two games after abusive gestures to fans in the Man City game. Manager Arsène Wenger has the team playing extremely well except for the disappointment last week, a 6-3 loss to Man City.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has never lost against Arsène Wenger in nine games. A win would at least tie Chelsea for the top spot in the league. The game looks to be a high-scoring even affair, so a 2-2 draw looks to be a reasonable outcome.