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Commentary
What to Watch This Weekend (Dec 11-13)
A couple big matches in England this weekend, with 4 of the 5 consensus contenders in the Premier League race facing off against each other: Spurs-Chelsea on Sunday, and Arsenal-Man U on Monday. Here are the details on those, plus a handful of additional matches to spend your weekend on. As usual, all times ET (and as usual culled from the SoccerInsider's weekly post) SATURDAY England, Aston Villa-West Brom 10 a.m. FSC: one of the two West Midlands derbies this weekend. England, Newcastle-Liverpool 12:30 p.m. FSC: Newcastle unceremoniously dumped their manager Chris Hughton on Monday--the guy that had led them to promotion from the Championship last season, in a decision that was equally unpopular among Newcastle's fans and current players (as well as the press, including one former England legend/Newcastle manager). So it will be interesting to see how newly appointed Alan Pardew is received at St James' Park and
Commentary
A Shameful Moment for Brazilian Soccer
Why the end of this year's Brazilian Championship was so unsatisfying The Brazilian Championship ended Sunday. I'd love to be able to write a gushing post about what a great end the tournament had. Unfortunately, people in power in Brazilian soccer (and my stubborn insistence on knowing things and not forgetting them) ruined it for me. So here's a warning: if you don't want to see the filthy underbelly of Brazilian soccer, don't read the rest of this post. I will make another post soon running down some of the good things about the 2010 Brazilian Championship, but this one contains some really ugly truth. You were warned. In a previous post, I mentioned that my favorite club team played Fluminense, one of three teams with any chance of being champ, in the next-to-last round of the Brazilian Championship this year, and that even though my team had nothing to
Commentary
BRA-ARG ×2, rivalries, and the best players in the world
NewsPreview
Champions League Preview: Arsenal v Partizan
There's really only one game that matters today: the Arsenal v Partizan matchup. We've been focusing a lot on the Gunners this week (apologies to Spurs fans) though can you blame us? What with the classy showing from the overbite last weekend, and now with the top team in England (game in hand, of course) on the verge of disqualification, we simply can't help ourselves. The north Londoners meet a Serbian side who've only scored one goal (against Arsenal, btw) with nine put in against. And of course they've come to England and the cozy confines of the Emirates stadium. But there's pressure on Arsenal as they're currently tied on points with Braga for second place in their group. Anything but a win could see the gooners out of the tournament, and would send the pundits back into the familiar territory of writing off as Arsenal also-rans. How do the
CommentaryVideo
Carpenter’s Crush: (More) Samir Nasri
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Weekend Standouts: Samir Nasri & S.S. Lazio
An exciting weekend as always around world football, and more action to come with Champions League matches tomorrow and Weds. For now, let's take a quick look at the fantastic goals of Samir Nasri vs Fulham. "The overbite", as we call him in the Cult Football offices, has hit top form this season, and his composure on the ball and willingness to shoot is sorely needed, especially with Arshavin going missing in the attack of late. Enjoy! How about dem aquile? From Italy, Rafa Benitez continues to lose, this time to Lazio. The result puts Lazio in second place and sends Inter dangerously close to losing any invitation to european tournaments next year. Lazio are actually a very entertaining side to watch, and absolutely dominated Inter on the way to a 3-1 victory. Particularly outstanding were the Brazilian midfielder Hernanes and his point man in attack Mauro Zárate. Hernanes has a