Friday, November 30, 2007

Around the Continent...

Friday's Bundesliga game kicks off a full slate of European league games this weekend. In fact, the action got under way elsewhere this afternoon as well with Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege taking on Anderlecht in the Belgian League. That game finished in a 0-0 stalemate, and as a result, Standard climb to the top of the table for now.

Saturday, Jonathan Spector and West Ham United travel across London to Stamford Bridge where they will take on Chelsea in the Saturday lunchtime kickoff. That's lunchtime in England of course, and here that game will be on bright and early Saturday morning. Be sure to set your alarms for the 7:30 a.m. ET kickoff on Setanta.

Later on Saturday morning, Tim Howard minds the nets for Everton as his club travels to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth. Both sides are in excellent form, with Portsmouth unbeaten in their last five matches, and Everton's only blemish coming from their 2-1 defeat in the Merseyside Derby. Kickoff is a 10:00 a.m. ET, and you can follow text updates here, or catch the delayed broadcast at 2:30 p.m. ET on Setanta.

At the same time, Reading travel to Middlesbrough and Derby County make the journey north to Sunderland. Both these games would seem to have significant implications for the relegation battle this season, as all four of these teams reside in the lower half of the standings. Derby, led by new manager Paul Jewell, will be looking to climb off the foot of the table against a Sunderland side that was thrashed by Everton last weekend. Benny Feilhaber will hope to make it two appearances in a row following his substitute cameo against Chelsea. For Reading, Bobby Convey tallied an assist in last weekends heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Manchester City, and will likely retain his place in the starting 11 along with goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann. Neither of these games are televised live, but the Reading game can be seen on FSC at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The other big game on Saturday is in Portugal, where Freddy Adu and second place Benfica host first place FC Porto at the Estadio da Luz. Both clubs are undefeated in the Portuguese League, though Benfica are four points behind the leaders.

On Sunday, Heerenveen and Michael Bradley play away to NEC Nijmegen. Last time out, Heereveen lost for the first time in five matches against De Graafschap, but they still remain in fourth place in the table. To continue their pursuit for a UEFA Cup berth, they'll need to earn a win against an NEC side who have lifted themselves off the bottom of the table in recent weeks.

And finally, Monday afternoon action pits Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra and Fulham against Champions Manchester United. The game is televised live on Setanta, with coverage beginning at 2 pm ET. We'll have more for you throughout the weekend, so make sure to keep checking back here for the latest highlights and results...

No comments: