When Manchester City played Liverpool on April 10, the dramatic 2-2 draw showed the class of England. City and Liverpool represent the greatest rivalry in terms of title challengers. This season alone, City and Liverpool show dominance domestically and intercontinentally. In England, the two sides are 12 and 11 points clear of third-place Chelsea. In […]

Arsenal's European hopes looked bleak at the beginning of the season. Three-consecutive shutout losses in the opening-three games sank the Gunners to the bottom of the table. Of course, Mikel Arteta's squad then pulled off an 10-game unbeaten run in all competitions, ballooning the north London side to fifth in the Premier League. That run […]

The dismissal of the European Super League symbolized the rejection of the Americanization of European soccer. Essentially, closed leagues are not desirable in the European landscape. Promotion and relegation and the possibility of intercontinental competition makes European soccer special. However, European soccer has a crisis of competitiveness. Realistically, if only a fraction of clubs win […]

PSG produced some dominating teams over the last decade. In fact, they managed to win the French Ligue 1 title in seven of the last nine seasons. However, this year’s team is perhaps the most exciting squad at the Parc des Princes ever. For one, a handful of already-elite players arrived. Young stars Gianluigi Donnarumma […]

Two of the world's biggest sports leagues, here is the NFL season ticket comparison to the Premier League. While many soccer fans in England and Wales complain that season ticket prices at Premier League clubs are ridiculously high, the prices seem like bargains when compared to how NFL teams in the United States are fleecing […]

Southampton against Manchester City was the showpiece game of the weekend, following the home side's superb start to the season. Mike Jones was the man in charge at St Mary's and had a strange first 45 minutes. The most bizarre decision was to punish Sergio Aguero for a dive, when it was clear that Jose […]

Manchester City had a difficult time between the two most recent international breaks. While on paper the squad looks impressive, the lack of depth especially given the financial outlay on many of these players is quite worrying. Sergio Aguero has begun the season in terrific form, but there's always the fear that an injury might […]

It was always going to happen at some point – Barcelona is getting old. Xavi is now 33 years old, Dani Alves is now 30 and they recently had to part with the legendary Carlos Puyol. The 'tiki-taka' team of five years ago is certainly long gone, with new Barcelona manager Luis Enrique brought in […]

  The 2014/15 season is eight games old and Southampton and West Ham proudly inhabit the top four while Manchester United continue to be just two bad games from a full-scale crisis. But even in the topsy-turvy unpredictable Premier League, there are certainties to be found. Here are five for the weekend ahead: 1. Mourinho […]

Sergio Aguero is fast off the ball and perhaps even quicker with it at his feet. He skips by defenders in and around the 18-yard box weekly and evades them to find the two inches of space he needs to punish the opponent with a sublime finish. If he doesn’t get off a shot, he’ll […]

The first fixture to satisfy our insatiable desire for Premier League football after the international break is at the Etihad, as two of the current top six prepare to fight it out in this crucial early period (kickoff time is 7:45am ET, and the game will be shown live on US TV on NBCSN). Despite […]

Coming off of a decisive 3-1 victory over last year’s Premier League runners up Liverpool, Manchester City will look to continue their perfect start to the early season with a lineup that will feature only a couple of changes. The most likely changes will be at fullback with Sagna in line to make his first […]

Liverpool and Manchester City go again in Premier League play on Monday when the Reds travel to the Etihad to battle the Sky Blues. The two outfits played to a 2-2 draw at Yankee Stadium over the summer with the Reds winning on penalty kicks, but now spectators will see the two sides take each […]

The first time I heard about the movie Control, about the life of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis, was three years ago after I just finished "Touching From A Distance," the excellent book by his widow Deborah Curtis. When the movie was finally released in 2007, I agonized over the fact that it was […]