Lampard Lunacy, Derby della Capitale, Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid, Napoli vs. Juventus, Manchester United vs. Southampton

Wait. What?

Hey...OH! There goes another one. We've arrived at Friday, and Frank Lampard is sick and tired of the lies and nonsense regarding his FC Bayer New York City Athletic Football Club. You see, it's all really just a "commitment" to play and there's no "loan" and it's just some training thing so he can stay fit for the MLS season. Right? Good Grief.

Let's try and distance ourselves from all of that nonsense with some previews. Here's your lot for the Premier League. 

Premier League Spotlight

10 Things To Look Out For

Team News

Richard Jolly: Barry's downturn in form central to Everton's struggles

Paul Merson's Predictions

Lawro's Predictions

Over in Italy there are a couple of tasty dishes getting prepared for Sunday. Fancy some Roma vs. Lazio? Hmmm? Or, perhaps you'd prefer a little Napoli vs. Juventus? Yummy!

Back in Spain the biggie is Atlético Madrid at Barcelona. That should be a good one. Here's a Weekend Preview for La Liga.

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

Ronald Koeman has done a fabulous job of keeping Southampton in the wins despite the loss of key personnel. Daniel Taylor takes a closer look at the Dutch gaffer.

Predictions! Who will finish where in the Premier League? Let's look at the numbers.

Guillem Balague has a piece on just how far Atlético Madrid have come. You should read it.

Have you guys checked out Felipe Anderson? Dude plays for Lazio and he's tearing shit up. Check it.

Hey! That's it. Enjoy the weekend of football.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Atlético Defeat Real, Transfer Rumors, Harry Kane, Shaq to Inter

El Niño returns.

Right! Off and running today. The Atléticos defeated the Reals in the latest battle for Madrileño supremacy yesterday. The side from the Vicente Calderón walked out 2-0 winners of the Copa del Rey Round of 16 First-Leg clash. As you might hope and expect, Sid Lowe was there and he filed this report. Torres played but didn't do much. Here are Three Points. Here are Three Things We Learned.

Harry Kane. What's the deal with this guy? He's having quite the season for Spurs, is he not? Richard Jolly wants to know why and he wants to tell us about it. Excellent. Conveniently, James Riach has a look at Ridgeway Rovers, the youth club where it all began for Kane. And a certain Golden Balled-one...

As noted yesterday, Serie A returned to action with aplomb. Paolo Bandini is over there and is ready to bring us up to speed on this week's slate of matches. Grazie, Paolo.

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

If you read the transfer guff above you'll see that Xherdan Shaqiri has left Bayern Munich to sign with Inter Milan. Why?

Bloody Hell. Barcelona in Crisis!!!!!! The BBC's Lee Roden investigates the Catalan Calamity. Rik Sharma wonders what it all means, and Sid Lowe says it's all about Messi and Enrique. Enough? Good.

That's really about it for this Thursday. See you tomorrow for all the weekend previews.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Atlético Madrid vs Real Madrid, Sid Lowe in Spain, Philippe Auclair in France, Juve and Inter Draw, Adebayo Akinfenwa, Barcelona Crisis?!

Adebayo Akinfenwa

Goodness Gracious. Hump Day already. SSN Headquarters suffered an infestation of locusts yesterday and we were forced to shut down operations. But! We are back. Let's roll...

The FA Cup Third Round plodded on yesterday as Everton struck late to claim a 1-1 draw with West Ham. Andy Hunter was at Goodison Park and filed this report. Richard Jolly was also there and has Three Points.

The SSN Staff took in the Wimbledon/Liverpool match the other day. It was fun. Watching Adebayo Akinfenwa made it especially fun. Here's more about that guy. And here's your FA Cup Fourth Round Draw:

Southampton or Ipswich Town v Crystal Palace

Cambridge United v Manchester United

Blackburn Rovers v Swansea City

Chelsea v Millwall or Bradford City

Derby County v Scunthorpe or Chesterfield

Preston NE v Sheffield United

Birmingham City v West Brom

Aston Villa v AFC Bournemouth

Cardiff City v Reading

Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers

Burnley or Tottenham v Leicester City

Brighton & HA v Arsenal

Rochdale v Stoke City

Sunderland v Fulham or Wolves

Doncaster or Bristol City v Everton or West Ham

Manchester City v Middlesbrough

Before we leave the FA Cup, Michael Cox has his tactics on and says we should all stop expecting upsets. Thanks, Debbie Downer!

There were a slew of matches in Italy yesterday as Serie A got back up and running. Here are Five Things We Learned, including the fact that Juventus' killer instinct is dulled. And here's a wee wrap of all the action over there in the big boot.

Bah. We missed our usual Tuesday scribe run so let's play some catch-up. These pieces are too good to miss. Most of the action is in Spain:

Where? Spain. Who? Sid Lowe. What? Real Madrid's run ends while Barcelona shoot themselves in the foot

Where? France. Who? Philippe Auclair. What? Only in Marseille: where ultras rule and temptation is never far away

Where? Spain. Who? Andy Hunter. What? Brutal January could be decisive for Atletico, Real Madrid and Barcelona

Where? Spain. Who? Jonathan Wilson. What? Crisis brewing at Barcelona as club's foundation is put to the test

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

There's a big match this afternoon. It The Madrid Derby, this time in the Copa del Rey. Here's a 50/50 Challenge and here's a preview. Hit the telly at 3:00 p.m. EST on beIN Sports USA. Word is Torres is set to start! Oh, the drama! Will The Curse continue?

Woop! We out.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com

Wimbledon vs. Liverpool, Moyes Beats Barcelona, Real Madrid Lose, Serie A Returns, FA Cup Reviews

A very pleasant Monday to you and yours. Let's get started in Spain, shall we? The acción resumed after the winter break and what acción it was! Real Madrid lost! That's their first defeat in 22 matches. Valencia took them down at the Mestalla. What else? How about this? David Moyes enjoyed his best moment (by far) since his arrival in Spain because his Real Sociedad side beat Barcelona! Well done, Moe. Of course, it probably helped that Messi and Neymar didn't play in the first half, but still, how did he do it?

Elsewhere, 40,000 fans showed up to welcome Fernando Torres back to Atlético Madrid. Here are Five Things We Learned in La Liga. More tomorrow with El Sid.

Vinny Jones and Dennis Wise enjoy some cards on the way to Wembley.

Back in England, the league took a break in order for the FA Cup to get a round in. The Third Round, to be precise. No big surprises. Here are 15 Talking Points from the round. Here are the Heroes & Villains. What else? Amy Lawrence has dubbed Arsenal's Alexis Sánchez as a "bionic mosquito." Nice. We approve. Oh, and Richard Jolly has Three Points from Manchester City's narrow win over Sheffield Wednesday. And here's a wrap is you want more.

The round isn't over, though. There are two matches today. Burnley host Spurs (Burnley fans don't seem terribly excited), and it's a rematch of the 1988 final between Wimbledon and Liverpool. The BBC has a nice rewind to that epic and shocking final, here is a preview, and here are 11 Things You Need To Know.

No.

Look who's back. Back again. Serie A. Lazio and Samp clash today and everyone else joins the party domani. We really enjoy it when those lazy continental leagues decide to end their holidays and get back on the pitch...

Oh, look at this. What a surprise. Stevie G will join the assGalaxy. Shocking. Grant Wahl's got the exclusive from Commish Garber. Wonder what Bobbie BS thinks about that? We love us some MLS here at SSN Headquarters! Yes, yes we do...

Daniel Taylor has a solid piece on Margaret Thatcher and her government's attempt to address hooliganism and racism in football. Oh, dear.

The Mill. Plus One. Plus Plus One.

That just might do it for this first day of the week. Keep it tite.

Onward!!

-SSN

nbcsoccer.com