The Birmingham Derby highlights another day of soccer around the world, as Brad Friedel and Aston Villa look to shut down Birmingham in a battle of teams looking to vault into the top half of the Premier League table.
Elsewhere in Europe, Italy's surprise table-leader, Lazio, looks to continue its winning ways at Palermo. In Germany, the top two teams in the Bundesliga, Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund, will do battle for league supremacy, with first place on the line in their crucial early-season matchup.
If you will be watching any or all of Sunday's games, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (TV schedule is after the jump):
SUNDAY'S SOCCER ON TV
3:00am- Fox Soccer Channel- North Queensland Fury vs. Gold Coast United
7:30am- ESPN3.com/Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv- Palermo vs. Lazio
8:00am- FoxSoccer.tv- Aston Villa vs. Birmingham City
9:30am- Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer.tv- Newcastle United vs. Sunderland
10:00am- ESPN3.com- Brescia vs. Napoli
10:30am- ESPN3.com- Mainz 05 vs. Borussia Dortmund
12:00pm- Fox Soccer Channel- Bolton vs. Liverpool
12:00pm- GolTV- Sporting Gijon vs. Villareal
12:00pm- DirecTV- Malaga vs. Real Sociedad
12:00pm- ESPN3.com- Deportivo La Coruna vs. Espanyol
12:00pm- FoxSoccer.tv- Monaco vs. Bordeaux
2:00pm- Telemundo- Toluca vs. San Luis
2:00pm- Fox Deportes- Morelia vs. Monterrey
2:00pm- GolTV- Atletico Madrid vs. Almeria
3:45pm- ESPN3.com- Catania vs. Fiorentina
4:00pm- DirecTV- Athletic Bilbao vs. Getafe
4:00pm- GolTV- Hannover vs. Hoffenheim (Delayed)
4:00pm- Fox Soccer Plus- Montpellier vs. PSG
8:00pm- ESPN2/ESPN3.com- Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Seattle Sounders FC
Nobody in the house this morning? Anybody watching Villa?
Anybody think that Houllier’s clock is already ticking at Villa? Currently they have 0 attempts at net versus Birmingham’s 7 (2 on net). Villa’s at home…what the hell is he doing there?
Watching the Lazio-Palermo match on ESPN3 and am really impressed with Lazio’s Floccari. What a motor on this guy, never stops working on the left attacking side. I’m not usually a Serie A fan but this is a pretty entertaining game.
Just woke up. Bout to watch Hocus Pocus
Yesterday’s AC Milan v. Juve match was a good one in terms of pace and chances. Palermo has good attacking talent (Pastore and the Slovenian dude who’s name I can’t remember.. Ilic?) as well.
Jordan Henderson is a cutie pie
Yeah, Ilic I think.
Good game and Lazio actually looks like they deserve to be in first place. That was a tough road win to guts out.
great goal from Newcastle. bicycle kick from close range. fantastic atmosphere at st. james’ park
lol. C’mon Sara, focus!
Kevin Nolan again! think the roof is about to come off the stadium
Did you jump up and scream “I Love My Toyota” when Alex Song scored to give your Gooners the victory yesterday?
The only thing my sunday morning brain can deliver is a reference to a 1980s advertisement.
Remember the time change in central Europe. CET fell back 1 hour which makes games 5 hrs ahead of EST for one week until we fall back next Sunday.
I think it was more relief than anything yesterday. Pretty early here on the west coast. I’m still half asleep this morning. Need coffee…..
Sunderland is imploding. 3-0 Newcastle
Yeah, not good for Bruce’s career aspirations. Getting hammered in this derby is…bad.
Matthew Taylor added to his Rot Weiss Ahlen season account with two goals against Wiesbaden. Puts him near the top of 3.BL torjagers (goal scorers).
wow, former Magpie Titus Bramble sent off. Could it possibly get any better for Newcastle?
Or any worse for Sunderland. Nightmare on Tyneside.
horror show indeed. wow
Yes it can…better for Newcastle, worse for Sunderland. 4-0.
Come on Avi,
It is the biggest game of the year ( outside of WCup, obvi ) for the US’ best player. You can’t just throw one extra line on there for Galaxy-Sounders ?
Maybe like oh yeah, and the best regular season team, with the best US player, plays the best second half team in the playoffs tonight, I don’t really care, but if you do whatever….
Come on.
(SBI-Settle down Charles. The Soccer Saturday write-up almost always consists exclusively of the day’s European matches, with MLS games generally getting their own write-ups. We’ve got a writer covering the LA-Seattle game so it will be getting coverage.)
holy crap. 5-0. Hat trick for Nolan
holy crap 5-0. Hat trick for Nolan
I don’t even know what to say.
I would recommend something expressing joyous surprise.
LOL. do i hear six?
Terrible commentary in the Brescia-Napoli game. Breschia striker manages to get a shin on a deflected cross and hits the post. Announcer thinks he should have done better. It’s so sad when Euro announcers suck all the joy out of the game.
9 yellows, 1 straight red, 5 goals.
What a battle.
the camera just focused on Bruce for a long moment. his face was red, and it looked like he was about to explode. poor guy. it’s one thing to lose, but to lose like this. ouch
Joey Barton’s mother must be so proud. Even more incrediable than the scoreline is that there have been 11 bookings and that criminal doesn’t have one.
And as a pleasant addition, I have Bent on my fantasy squad which caps a very good week.
Ok, time to start the chicken stock and other cooking happiness, then it’s time to watch Stuey play ‘pool.
Why is Howard Webb considered such a great referee? The guy is a clown who hands out cards indiscriminately and loses control of matches.
Let’s get it on. Com’mon Stu hit the back of the net and com’mon Pool let’s get the W.
OH Stu nearly. Great volley on his left that forces a nice save from Reina.
That was a great strike. Would’ve been goal of the week hands down had it gone in
That was an incredible strike from Stu, and an even better save from Reina.
Stuart looking confident on the ball. Comfortably receiving possesion and calmly distributing it, only adding to Bolton’s dominance of ball possession. Moreover, he’s hustling and getting stuck in on defence.
Interesting game here….kind of.
I wish Taylor would let Stuie take just one free kick.
Getting a bit scrappy now. Thinking a set play goal will win this one.
Maybe, but you’ve got to understand that they’re all from the right side, which is much more favorable for a left-footer. Plus, Taylor is pretty well known for his ability on long-distance shots. Just ask Tim Howard about the wondergoal he conceded against Portsmouth a few years back.
It was creepily quiet in the Reebok at the end of the 1st half. SPOOOOOOOOOKY
I agree that Taylor has a great strike and all the spots are on the right side but I just want Stu to hit one because I feel that’s gonna be his best chance to put one in the net
In addition to the one he blasted on goal that Reina parried?
I can’t tell if Holden’s lack of incisive passing is due to nobody on his team moving or a failure of vision/confidence.
He’s doing okay but maybe a bit tentative.
yeah, you’re probably right. It’s looking like Bolton used to play under…Allardyce was it?
This color announcer is laboring under the dated belief that Liverpool is a good team. They are clearly a talented but entirely disjointed bunch now. The color guy keeps focusing on why they aren’t creating chances but the short version is that right now, they’re not a better TEAM than Bolton.
Altidore in for Villarreal vs. Gijon
Great to see! Important situation and time to make an impact.
I think Stuart has looked a step slow almost the whole game, especially on defense. Far too casually jogging around instead of sprinting to mark a guy…so, he keeps getting there after they’ve received the pass or made their won pass/shot. He needs to anticipate better and hustle to the spot….like what Skrtel did to deny him. He could be dominating this game, instead of chasing it.
Hes played backwards on many occasions today. Somehow I feel if it were someone else in the middle of the park, they’d be getting crucified.
Kljestan has scored for Anderlecht against Racing Genk
Turning out to be one of the best weekends in recent memory for Yanks Abroad.
gonzalo taking villarreal out of the game…gives away a PK and then gets a second yellow.
his mindset and timing are clearly not that of a defensive player and you are right, he is slow to the ball. I think, however, that it’s not because he’s not working hard enough but instead his positional sense as a defender is not well defined. He’ll probably improve a bit.
my stream goes out right as pool score…lame
Cha Ching! There we go… finally a positive, cohesive sequence for Pool and finished off by Maxi.
Good news for Jozy Altidore fans. He got 20 minutes today in the La Liga, and Gonzalo, a starting striker, got a red card. So Jozy may get a start for La Liga soon!
Source, ESPN gamecast.
Definitely a positive week for Yanks Abroad. Playing time, goals, and away we go!! I want to see a few new faces in for the next international camp. Maybe Diskkerud and Grella. Lets just see what they got. Kljestan has turned his game up a notch!!
grella? really?
I watched most of the 2nd half of this game and i still think Holden is a great central midfielder. I saw him take players on (and win, sometimes leaving his opponents on the ground), make great passes and crosses, and be constantly in the right place in the right time. Those are all offensive qualities, yes, but i didn’t notice the really bad defensive lapses.
Your criticism sounds like similar criticism of Dempsey. That he doesn’t hustle, is lazy, etc. I don’t see it.
Not to burst your bubble or anything Mr. Soccernet Gamecast, but Gonzalo is a centerback.
I know seriously?!? Wats with the man crush on Grella????? He cant even get decent minutes in League 1. I’d even prefer a healthy Cooper, Buddle, Wondo over Grella anyday.
I agree Supsam but minus the Cooper inclusion. I’d just rather see Tristan Bowen ahead of Cooper rt now.
Although, healthy as you said…Cooper would still be better.
its just desperation from people who look at our lineup currently and think that there might be something better out there. Hint, there’s not. it’s depressing but it’s true.