Stage Is Set for Champions League & Prem Matches

It’s been a busy few days in football with plenty of Premiership matches in addition to the final Champions League matches of the round. The highlight for me was seeing Marcos Nelson’s goal for Benfica against Man United. Supreme quality.Jose Mourinho didn’t get his wish, so there are now five British teams in the round of 16 draw for the Champions League (the draw will be made on December 15). This is the stage of the Champions League where it gets even more exciting (definitely more exciting than the Arsenal v Porto nil-nil draw).In the Premiership, meanwhile, I missed the Newcastle against Reading match but was blown away by the highlights, especially Emre’s winner. The sound of the ball hitting the net after the long range effort reverberated around St. James’s Park. It seems the spark is finally back on the Tyne.So the stage is now set for an interesting weekend of Premiership football. This Sunday is the Chelsea versus Arsenal clash (11am ET, Fox Soccer Channel), which you can follow via the EPL Talk chat with fans from around the world (from the homepage).Saturday’s fixtures include the Manchester derby (7:45am ET, Setanta), Portsmouth against Everton (2:15pm ET, FSC) and Liverpool v Fulham (10am ET, Setanta). With Sheffield United’s run of form, their Monday fixture versus Aston Villa (3pm ET, FSC) could be more entertaining than we thought. (The EPL Talk Chat will be open starting on Saturday at 7:45am ET throughout the day).You may want to take advantage of this weekend’s Premiership matches. The next BIG weekend isn’t until 20-21 January when Liverpool play Chelsea at Anfield and Arsenal battle Man United at Ashburton Grove.