A month from now, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey will be teammates on the U.S. national team, helping lead the team into World Cup qualifying. Today, the two will square off in one of the matches of the day as Everton takes on Fulham.
Howard and the Toffees are coming off a stirring 4-4 draw against Manchester United, while the Cottagers come in on a four-match unbeaten streak, with Dempsey leading the attack. The squads are separated by two points in the standings, with Fulham having a chance to leapfrog Everton into seventh place with a win.
Bolton is fighting relegation, currently sitting a point from safety, but a win against Sunderland would help boost the Trotters chances of escaping the drop. Wigan is currently a point out of the relegation zone, but might fall into the bottom three if they can't knock off red-hot Newcastle.
In Italy, Roma and Napoli will square off in the Serie A's top match of the weekend, with Napoli looking to crack the top three, while Roma tries to improve on their seventh-place standing.
If you will be watching today's action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today's Soccer TV Schedule is after the jump):
TODAY'S SOCCER ON TV
7:30 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go - Southampton vs. Coventry City
7:30 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - West Ham vs. Hull City
7:30 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Crystal Palace vs. Cardiff City
7:30 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Dundee United vs. Heart of Midlothian
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Bayern Munich vs. Stuttgart
9:30 a.m. - GOLTV - Kaiserslautern vs. Borussia Dortmund
9:30 a.m. - ESPN3.com - Borussia Monchengladbach vs. Augsburg
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Wigan Athletic vs. Newcastle
10 a.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go - West Brom vs. Aston Villa
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Everton vs. Fulham
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Sunderland vs. Bolton
10 a.m. - FoxSoccer2Go - Swansea City vs. Wolverhampton
10 a.m. - ESPN2/ESPN Deportes - Stoke City vs. Arsenal
12 p.m. - GOLTV - Levante vs. Granada
12 p.m. - Fox Soccer Plus/FoxSoccer2Go/ESPN3.com - Palermo vs. Catania
12:30 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Norwich City vs. Liverpool
2 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Montreal Impact vs. Portland Timbers
2:45 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel/ESPN3.com - Roma vs. Napoli
2:45 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Lyon vs. Quevilly (Coupe de France final)
3:15 p.m. - ESPN3.com - Maritimo Funchal vs. Porto
3:30 p.m. - NBC Sports Network - New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution
4 p.m. - ESPN3.com/ESPN Deportes - Villarreal vs. Osasuna
5 p.m. - Fox Soccer Channel - Everton vs. Fulham (delayed)
5:40 p.m. - GOLTV - Boca Juniors vs. Colon
6 p.m. - ESPN Deportes/Azteca America - Jaguares vs. Morelia
7 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Philadelphia Union vs. San Jose Earthquakes
7:30 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - D.C. United vs. Houston Dynamo
7:30 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Columbus Crew vs. Vancouver Whitecaps
8 p.m. - Telefutura - Tigres UANL vs. Puebla
8 p.m. - Univision Deportes - Pachuca vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
8:30 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Chicago Fire vs. Seattle Sounders
9 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Colorado Rapids vs. Chivas USA
9 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Real Salt Lake vs. Toronto FC
9:30 p.m. - Galavision - Atlas vs. Santos Laguna
10 p.m. - Univision Deportes - Atlante vs. Monterrey
10:30 p.m. - MLS Live/Direct Kick - Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas
Ives – the new pop up ads in the bottom right freeze my browser. please drop them!
Wooten starting for 1.FCK, but Boyd doesn’t make bench for BvB.
COYW!
Word
Has Clint Dempsey scored against Howard yet while playing for Fulham? I can’t remember a single time.
Yea, last season.
Penalty to Everton! Jelovic took a free kick right outside the box, he hits it at Pogs head, and he betrays the wall by lifting his arm, and it’s 1-0 Everton 7th.
Toffees bossing the game early.
First attack for Fulham on the day ends with a good Howard save on Frei. Could little 1-2 at the top of the box orchestrated by Dempsey, he’s gotten so good at that little pass in tight spaces.
Holy Moses. Couple of sweet goals for Wigan.
Jelavic is on fire! Along with converting the PK for a very Dempsey-like 8 goals in 7 games, he controls a long ball very well and fires off the Fulham post. 16th.
And Fellanni scores for Everton, 2-0. He got free on a corner for a header, and though Riise is standing on the goal line, he whiffs on the clearance and the ball finds the back of the net.
Also, Van Persie scores to pull Arsenal back even after an early Stoke goal. Crazy early action all over the EPL.
Great fingertip save from Howard to deny Dempsey, still 2-0 Everton.
Howard tips Dempsey over the bar! He scoops up a loose ball in the box, does well to get into shooting position, and his bouncing, deflected shot is tipped over by a diving Howard. First signs of life in a long time for Fulham. 2-0, 32nd.
Good lord, Swansea up 4-1 on Wolves??? The Welsh Barcelona having a better week than the real one.
This is a wild wild day.
Holy Goals Batman! They’re everywhere
BTW, Fulham left Danny Murphy on the bench today. The first half has been a good argument that he’s at the heart of what Fulham do, over the one that says he’s passed it.
A bit of truth to both sides of that, I think. He IS a bit past it but they have no replacement for him at the moment.
Ugh. What a mess for Fulham at the back. Pinnear plays a lovely pass into Jelavic (who maybe was offsides, but the game is better when you let those go), but it brings him wide of the goal. He collects it and creeps around goal under no pressure, and fires a low shot right through Schwarzer’s legs and passed the man on the line. Both a beautiful and pathetic goal at the same time, 3-0 Everton 42nd.
Tactical shift by Newcastle and they are finally gaining some possession in dangerous areas. What a great first half though, by Wigan.
Totally agree, Murphy probably has enough left that he can be a strong sub at the 60 min mark, but I do think he’s done (at least at a high level) as a regular starter. I was hoping the Diarra/Dembele combination would be better today, I still think it’s a promising pairing.
and the Mig-effect continues. I just submitted that comment and Wigan gets another one.
Just before the half Dempsey gets the ball at the top of the box, but his low shot takes a deflection before rolling just wide of the post. Nothing from the corner, and a horrible first half for Fulham is put out of its misery. Dempsey still able to create dangerous moments, even when nothing is working.
All these EPL and European games (save for a couple of them) are “dead leg” games just wanting the season to end. You can tell by the play.
As a Fulham fan, I am, of course, disgusted, but the game isn’t nearly as one-sided as the score suggests. Fulham only have one fewer shots on target (4) than do Everton (5). Fulham have had more corners, but haven’t been able to do much with them thus far. (Duff needs to step it up.) The first goal came off of a ridiculous penalty, no excuse for the second, just terrible defending, and the third was an absurd shot that Schwarzer someone let sneak by him. It will be awfully tough to get anything out of this, but switching Diara for Murphy would help.
Wigan have taken advantage of everything they could have taken advantage of. Newcastle have been awful, clearly didn’t come into the game prepared to play against 3 at the back.
I also think Wigan have been very good at fouling just before an attack can happen.
For the sake of my own state of mind I probably won’t be watching the second half, though I’ll check it from time to time and see if Newcastle can creep back into the game a little.
This Everton v Fulham game is fun to watch! Lots of technique and skill. But Fulham with no bite on defense in midfield & back – Everton is dominating there and that’s the difference in this game. I prefer to watch Fulham without Murphy – it lets Dempsey be at his most confident, technical, creative, unselfish – fun fun to see.
agree, 3-0 isn’t doesn’t really reflect the game.
Optimistic Prediction: either Fulham or Newcastle will have a great 2nd half and get back into the game.
Gervinho for Arsenal is just poor. Unbelievably poor. Another signing Wenger got wrong
Wow, I emphatically disagree with this statement. What do you think he does wrong, I’m curious!
Or maybe it’s Wolves! They pull to 4-3 with Swansea.
now I know where I left that crack-pipe.
I think this is overstated, but it is true that neither he or Chamakh really worked out. Dempsey could take Gervinho’s minutes.
Piennar to Cahill, and it’s a wonderful goal for 4-0. Fulham ripped to shreds, again. Nightmare day for the Cottager’s backline.
I think he needs more time to settle in. He hasn’t shown much finishing yet, but I do think it’s in him to do it.
I think Fulham are getting run, and are horrible on defense today. But, Dempsey and co have been able to create chances which gives some hope.
I have to admit, I haven’t watched nearly as much of Bolton as I have in the past when Stu was playing. But I obviously am pulling for them to stay up, for Stu and Timmy’s sake. Interesting to see Kevin Davies with a brace thus far today after a really disappointing season. I’ve always liked his fight, and we’re season it come to the forefront today in the heat of their relegation battle. Let’s hope QPR loses tomorrow!
Wolves draw level, 4-4! They were down 4-1 earlier. They are getting relegated, but they’ll have a last couple of memories on the way out.
Everton v Fulham is lot’s less fun to watch in this second half. With murphy in there, fulham’s creativity slows down, and dempsey getting very few touches.
Arsenal-Stoke still hanging out at 1-1… can Arsenal find a winner? That would be a bad 2 points to drop.
Vermaelen wastes a big free kick wide of the Stoke goal, 90th min.
Stoke come roaring forward and almost score, twice! And suddenly it’s Arsenal who are holding on in penalty time.
Hannover’s loss today leaves it in 7th place, the last Europa League slot. But if Hannover and Steve Cherundolo lose next week to Kaiserslautern, there are three teams with a chance to move into 7th place. If Hannover, Wolfsburg, and Bremen all lose next week (possible) and Nurnberg wins, then Timothy Chandler will be playing Europa League next year. Unfortunately, Hoffenheim totally screwed-up their Europa League hopes in the past three games—two losses and a tie. Schade.
On to the Flying Donkeys! Let’s see what MB and chievo can do against cagliari……
That does it, and suddenly Arsenal have gotten 2 pts out of their last 3 games. They’re still in 3rd place, but keep it interesting. Congrats to Peter Crouch on getting his 10th goal of the year. The Gunners just had zero ideas of what to do with the ball at the end to break down Stoke.
Stoke is a tough game and hooahh, Crouch, the most underappreciated goal scorer in England.
Now it gets interesting, 3rd thru 6th.
Dang. Not a fun day to be a Fulham fan. *sigh*
Cagliari controlling the game early vs Chievo. Might be a bad day for Michael Bradley fans too.
At least Serie A attendance makes me feel better about MLS attendance.
how did Ream do?
Gerrard to Suarez who then smacks it into net far post. 1st chance for Red Dragons today so hoping for more positive play. And as I write this Suarez drills a low strike opposite corner. That’s 2/2 shots/goals.
I think you nailed it
Watching Chievo is like pulling teeth. Agonizingly defensive tactics.
SUAREZ with a golazo from 40 yards (?) out beats the Norwich keeper who was off his line. 1st hat trick for the Red Dragons with a phenomenal tally.
makes one wonder why hughes isn’t paired with hangeland anymore…
huh? murphy helped!
Well, that was disappointing. Hopefully tonight will be better. D.C. UNITED!!!!
Why am I seeing Confederate flags being waved in Napoli
link to lmgtfy.com
Southern pride
NICE! how do u do that? lol i would love to do that to some of my friends
Nvm i googled it haha
“Let’s hope QPR loses tomorrow!”
One thing almost everyone can agree on….