Liverpool vs. Chelsea, The Joy of Six, Gentleman Ultra's Alternative Serie A Guide To Palermo, Fernando Torres

Tomorrow. 7:45 a.m. EST. NBCSN.

Right! And there goes another week. The matches just keep coming, don't they? Fabulous. Last night in Europe there were no surprises. Dinamo Moscow, Fiorentina, Legia Warsaw, and Salzburg reached the knock-out stage, while the other Big Boys (Spurs, Everton, Sevilla) moved closer. Here a quick review. Now then, on to the weekend. Per usual, we'll begin in the UK and move east.

Premier League Preview

Premier League Spotlight

Premier League Notebook

10 Things To Look Out For

Team News

Liverpool vs. Chelsea: 50/50 Challenge

Paul Merson's Predictions

Lawro's Predictions

The Weekend in Europe

In Spain, Barcelona are down to fourth as Valencia continue their surge up the table. Here's a weekend preview for La Liga. And it's been a weird season so far in Italy. Here's a weekend preview where Napoli's trip to Fiorentina catches the eye.

Stadio Renzo Barbera (Palermo)

Woop! The Gentleman Ultra is back! This time, his Serie A Alternative Guide takes him to Sicily to tackle Palermo. Enjoy!

Fernando Torres. Remember that guy? Yup, he used to be pretty good. He plays for AC Milan now. Can he turn his career around? Paolo Bandini addresses the issue.

The Joy of Six is here. This week's edition is Football Abandonments.

Errr...di Maria goes shopping? Why not? Fanta, Corona, Sprite...

And finally...
Bundesliga this week and this weekend? Raphael Honigstein, Max Whittle, and Ryan Baxter are on the case. Serie A this week and this weekend? James Horncastle and Max Whittle are on the case. La Liga this week and this weekend? Andy Brassell and Max Whittle (that guy's everywhere!) are on the case.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

CSKA Shock City, Bayern Cruise Past Roma, Nani Sparkles for Sporting, Soccer in Indianapolis

Oh, dear. How is it possible that Manchester City are so poor in the Champions League? They lost again last night, this time at home to CSKA Moscow. They finished with nine men, but the damage had been done prior to the red cards. They were simply woeful. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich continued their goose steps towards a return to the final by dispatching a strong Roma side. Again. Sporting beat Schalke, Barcelona won in Amsterdam as Messi equaled Raul's record, and Chelsea could only draw at Maribor as Eden Hazard saw his late penalty saved. Let's get to it.

Champions League Matchday Review

Wednesday's Champions League Review

Champions League Group Qualification Permutations

Champions League Team of the Week

Five Things We Learned this Week

James Horncastle: Mixed Week for Juventus and Roma

Manchester City 1 - 2 CSKA Moscow: Phil McNulty at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 2 CSKA Moscow: Paul Wilson at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 2 CSKA Moscow: Three Points

Richard Jolly: No explanation for City woe

Ajax 0 - 2 Barcelona: Sid Lowe at the Amsterdam Arena

Bayern Munich 2 - 0 Roma: Three Points

Maribor 1 - 1 Chelsea: Dominic Fifield at the Stadion Ljudski

Sporting Lisbon 4 - 2 Schalke: Adam Bate at the Estadio Jose Alvalade

You know, if the Galatasaray fans can't behave themselves, perhaps they shouldn't be allowed to attend away matches. Just saying.

Hey! Not satisfied with two days of Champions League football? Not to worry! The Europa League is coming to the rescue. Featuring...Apollon Limassol vs. Borussia Monchengladbach, Rio Ave vs. Steaua Bucharest, Guingamp vs. Dinamo Minsk, and Lokeren vs. Trabzonspor! Yes, you cannot afford not to watch.

North American Soccer League. Indianapolis. Who knew? Leave it to The Guardian to inform us about soccer in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Stats? Yes, according to them, Liverpool, Hull City, and Borussia Dortmund are in trouble.

That's it! All done! See you tomorrow with previews of the weekend.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Liverpool Lose, Arsenal Collapse, Juventus Rally

Errr...

Goodness Gracious, is it Hump Day already? A couple of interesting ones yesterday as Arsenal pulled an Arsenal and gave away a three-goal lead to Anderlecht, while Brendan Rodgers sent out a rather inexperienced side (a White Flag XI?) and Liverpool lost in Madrid. Let's read all about it!

Tuesday's Champions League Review

Jonathan Wilson's Tuesday Champions League Recap

Real Madrid 1 - 0 Liverpool: Sid Lowe at the Bernabéu

Real Madrid 1 - 0 Liverpool: Daniel Taylor at the Bernabéu

Real Madrid 1 - 0 Liverpool: Three Points

Phil McNulty: Was Rodgers right to rest star players?

Gabriele Marcotti: Is Rodgers a fool or a genius?

Marcus Christenson: Why Brendan Rodgers was spot on

Arsenal 3 - 3 Anderlecht: David Hytner at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal 3 - 3 Anderlecht: Barney Ronay at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal 3 - 3 Anderlecht: Three Points

Paul Merson: Arsenal tactically clueless

More matches today! The Etihad should be full, thanks to this buy-one-get-one-free deal. Ahem. Here are some previews:

Ajax vs. Barcelona: Preview

Ajax vs. Barcelona: Tactical Preview

Graham Hunter: Four things we've learned so far about Luis Enrique's Barcelona

Manchester City vs. CSKA Moscow: Preview

Bayern Munich vs. Roma: Preview

People protested when Sepp Blatter gave a speech. Good.

Grant Wahl's got a column worth checking out. Among other things, Wahl says he's got a source in Madrid who claims the Pepe/Super Mario shirt swap was Pepe's idea. Hmmm...

AC Milan. A massive club that has been struggling for a while. What's going on? Another year without Champions League football? Really?!

Hey. That's it.

Onward!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Sunderland Win At Palace, Champions League Returns, Scribes, MLS

Fun times in Tel Aviv...

Hello, Tuesday! Sunderland won on the road last night. Against Crystal Palace, which isn't the easiest place to go. Suddenly, Gus Poyet and his boys are up to 15th place and Palace are close to the drop zone. Here's your current EPL Table. Match report? Certainly. Ed Aarons was at Selhurst Park and filed this report.

2:45 p.m. Eastern Standard Time is the time today, peeps. Real Madrid vs. Liverpool. Arsenal vs Anderlecht. Juventus vs. Olympiakos. Borussia Dortmund vs. Galatasaray. Let's get our preview on, shall we?

Round Four Schedule

Tuesday Preview

Real Madrid vs Liverpool: Preview

Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: Liverpool are hoping to avoid embarrassment 

Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: Tactics Breakdown

Paul Parker: Why Gerrard must lead Liverpool into battle against Real Madrid

Arsenal vs. Anderlecht: Preview

Dominic Fifield: Arsène Wenger aiming to get Arsenal to top of CL group

We've got more on Liverpool's struggles here from Michael Cox. Tactics, people. Tactics.

Ohhh, let's dig into this one: Best XIs from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga, plus analysis of Manchester City and Juventus (Why are the English and Italian champions struggling in Europe?).

Scribe Time! Let's go in-depth to learn more about the weekend's top stories from around the globe.

Where? Spain. Who? Sid Lowe. What? Celta Vigo’s Nolito and Jonny Castro take headlines from Suárez and Messi

Where? Peru. Who? Tim Vickery. What? Federation infighting deepens existing football trouble in Peru

Where? Germany. Who? Uli Hesse. What? Favre is bringing back the glory days at Monchengladbach

Where? Germany. Again? Yes. OK. Who? Raphael Honigstein. What? Dortmund improve but are undone by ‘Subotage’ at Bayern Munich

Where? Italy. Who? Paolo Bandini. What? Higuaín keeps rolling for Napoli in ‘match of fear’ against Roma

Major League Soccer? Bird is making the case for Lee Nguyen of the New England Revolution for MVP. Jeff Carlisle has Three Points from RSL vs. assGalaxy. Jeff Bradley has Three Thoughts on NY Red Bull vs. D.C. United. Jason Davis has a complete Weekend Review. Playoff Rewind? Bamm!

Podcast! On today's Football Weekly, AC Jimbo is joined by Jacob Steinberg, Paul MacInnes and Ian McCourt to bask in the afterglow of another derby defeat for Manchester United. Oh, Louis! Oh, Smalling! Next, we applaud Alan Pardew for overseeing Newcastle's fourth win on the spin against a Liverpool side who next face Real Madrid in the Champions League, with Real looking to make it a dozen victories in a row - and probably will. Finally, Rafa Honigstein pops in to tell us where it's all gone wrong for Borussia Dortmund, and we catch up with all the goings on in the Championship, where it seems that Leeds may be about to become the latest team in the Red Bull stable.

Ten matches have been played by each club in the Premier League. Here are their grades thus far.

And finally...Goals of the Week! Goals of the Week!

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

City Edge United, Bayern Edge Dortmund, Napoli Defeat Roma, Monday Night Football, Rostov Racism

"Even the reddest Mancunian must have felt his loyalty tested, so idiotic were the actions that contributed to Smalling’s dismissal."

Hello, Monday! Another fabulous weekend of footie as City won the Manchester Derby thanks to Chris Smalling losing the plot and despite Michael Oliver not calling two obvious penalties. Up in Newcastle, the home side's resurgence continued, this time via a win over Liverpool. Over in Munich, Bayern despatched of Borussia Dortmund, and in Naples, Napoli knocked off Roma to allow Juventus to go back on top in Italy. Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona lost. At Home! Ouch. Let's move forward with the reports and fallout, beginning the Premier League.

10 Talking Points

Chris Kamara's Weekend Review

Peter Berlin: EPL Thoughts

Newcastle 1 - 0 Liverpool: Louise Taylor at St. James' Park

Newcastle 1 - 0 Liverpool: Three Points

Matthew Stanger: Rodgers' problems continue to grow

Arsenal 3 - 0 Burnley: David Hytner at the Emirates Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United: Barney Ronay at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United: Martin Samuel at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United: Richard Jolly at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United: Daniel Taylor at the Etihad Stadium

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United: Three Points

Manchester City 1 - 0 Manchester United: Five Talking Points

Adam Bate: Defense the biggest concern for United

Aston Villa 1 - 2 Tottenham: Stuart James at Villa Park

Garth Crooks's Team of the Week

Team of the Weekend

One more thing on the Premier League before we move on. Phil McNulty's got this: Ten talking points after Louis van Gaal's first 10 games.

So...Rostov is a host city for Russia's World Cup in 2018. Here's what Rostov's gaffer had to say last week when he was asked about the potential for signing a defender from Cameroon: (The club has) “enough dark-skinned players, we’ve got six of the things.”

We mentioned above that Barcelona were shocked at home. That's two La Liga defeats in two games since a certain player began his Barcelona career. Celta Vigo were the winners of this weekend's match, and Sid Lowe was at Camp Nou to file this report. More Spain? Here are Five Things We Learned this weekend in La Liga.

Let's go back to Germany for a minute and ask ourselves this question: Have Bayern Munich destroyed Borussia Dortmund's success?

Over to Italy! As reported earlier, Napoli downed Roma in the big match of the weekend. Here's a report. We'll have more tomorrow with Paolo.

This is good. Emirates will not longer be associated with SPECTRE FIFA. Hopefully Sony will follow suit.

Didn't get enough action over the last two days? Fear not - Monday Night Football is coming up! Struggling Sunderland have the long trip down to Selhurst Park to deal with. Here's a preview.

Marcotti's Musings? We've got 'em. Today Gab's gabbing...Dortmund, Manchester United take positives from defeat; Barca in no crisis.

And finally...just how bad has it gotten for Manchester United? Take a gander.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com