If someone had told me in 1992, when the Premier League began, that the number of people in the United States twenty years later who would watch a single Premier League game would exceed 1.6 million, I would have thought they were crazy. Remarkably, that’s exactly what happened last month for the Chelsea against Liverpool game on FOX. And that wasn’t even for a match that featured Manchester United.

I think it’s time for us all to take a deep breath and to be thankful for what we have. If you live in the United States, you have one of the best opportunities to watch as much live soccer as you want, anywhere in the world. And most importantly, we can watch the best of the best from around the world play in the Premier League week-in week-out. It really is a dream come true.

Today was a good example of how entertaining the Premier League is to watch. Out of seven games played, there was an incredible 25 goals scored — an average of 3.57 per game. And it’s not just goals that make the league so exciting to watch. I challenge you to tell me where else you can find something that is more exciting than has the pulsating six hours of action you’ll find on a Premier League Saturday.

Other than the tepid Aston Villa game against Manchester United (sorry Villa fans, but the only team worse to watch this season, other than Bolton, is Alex McLeish’s side), Saturday’s matches brought a great deal of entertainment. The end-to-end fast paced game between Newcastle United against Chelsea was the Premier League at its best. Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul again showed why he’s one of the best in the league this season. The 3-0 scoreline to Chelsea was unfair based on how close Newcastle came to scoring (Demba Ba and Shola Ameobi both hitting the crossbar, while John Terry made a goal-line clearance later in the game). But fair play to Chelsea who looked the best I’ve seen them this season. They created so many wonderful chances and looked very entertaining on the break. David Luiz, on the other hand, was a joy to watch (unless you’re a Chelsea supporter).

That was followed by an assortment of different choices. I watched Blackburn Rovers against Swansea, and Manchester City versus Norwich at the same time. Despite the result, I thought the Rovers versus Swans match was very entertaining. Just as the early kick-off at St. James’ Park was a back-and-forth game, so too was the one at Ewood Park. Swansea actually played very well in this match, but Blackburn were that much better. Yakubu will get all of the headlines for scoring all four goals in the 4-2 win, but the rest of the Blackburn side deserve praise for the way they played. Christopher Samba was key to setting up many of the chances for Yakubu, while Blackburn defended well at the back and midfield to keep Swansea limited to as few chances as possible.

Manchester City steamrolled past Norwich, and made the 5-1 win look exceedingly easy. Over at DW Stadium, Arsenal stuffed Wigan 4-0 with a beautiful performance that will continue to boost the Gunners with more confidence (and van Persie only scored one of the goals). In the other games, Tottenham Hotspur continues to make it look so easy with a three-nil triumph over Bolton Wanderers, while QPR could only manage a draw against West Bromwich Albion.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable day watching some wonderful games. The pressure is off Andre Villas-Boas and Steve Kean, at least a little, while Bolton’s Owen Coyle may be the next man in the firing line. The Premier League juggernaut continues moving forward, and I, for one, am loving every minute of it.

One more thing. And how could you not enjoy Mario Balotelli’s goal against Norwich? What confidence!

szólj hozzá: Manchester City 4-1 Norwich