Podcast, Fiorentina, Joey Barton, Joy of Six, Previews

Friday. Finally. Club football returns tomorrow, thank God. Let's begin with a podcast, yes?

Here's the intro: It's the sexiest Football Weekly Extraaaa line-up ever, with James Richardson joined by Pedro Pinto, Rafa Honigstein, and Barry Glendenning. Just look at them in that photo. Speaking of sexy, we start with that goal by that man Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Woof! Jimbo reckons this strike by Giuseppe Biava is the best goal he's ever seen, closely followed by this thracker by Dejan Stankovic - but let us know yours on the blog below. Next, Pedro tells us about his up close and personal interview with Cristiano Ronaldo (which goes out on CNN on Friday and over the weekend). Meow. We then turn our attention to the Premier League, where things don't get much sexier than West Ham v Stoke and the bottom of the table clash between QPR and Southampton. Finally, and no less sexily, Sid Lowe accidentally answers the phone to us because he was expecting a call from his butcher. Or something.

Fiorentina Fan

Fiorentina. La Viola. The pride of the "cradle of the Renaissance". One of our favorite sides back in the days of Batistuta. Bankrupt a decade ago and now back up to fourth in Serie A. Michael Cox, the master of technical analysis, investigates why. And how.

Joey Barton. Mentally deficient. Subhuman. Welcome, sweet and tender hooligan. Grant Wahl wants to take a closer look for some reason. In fact, he interviewed Joey, and it makes for an interesting read. Off you go, Grant.

The weekend EPL plate is dominated by the North London Derby. This edition (number 169) takes place at the Emirates Stadium. Don't misbehave if you're going. Tisk Tisk. U.S. viewers can take in the action tomorrow at 7:45am EST on ESPN2. Expect a lot of goals. Let's be honest here. Neither team is very good. Here's a nice synopsis of just what it all means. 

Right. Here's a preview for all the rest of the action. Don't worry: Here are Lawro's and Merse's predictions. And Louise Taylor has ten things to look for.

The Joy of Six: Nutmegs. One of the six is Claudio Lopez from THAT game in 1998 against Holland. His goal comes around 0:30 but why not revisit all three? Including, of course, Mr. Bergkamp...



Right. Time to wrap it up. Over in Spain, Real Madrid host Bilbao whilst Barcelona welcome Real Zaragoza to Camp Nou. In Italy, Saturday serves some sumptuous fare in the form of Juventus vs. Lazio and Napoli vs. AC Milan.

Wait! Playoffs! Yes, Major League Soccer. The second legs. OK. They're on Sunday. We'll let Kyle McCarthy hash it out.

Have a great weekend.

Onward!!

-SSN