Mario Balotelli accidentally set his house on fire early on Saturday morning after playing in his bathroom with fireworks. Manchester City's Italian striker escaped from the house unhurt, but it's yet another incident in the very surreal life of Mr. Balotelli. According to The Guardian newspaper, "he has told club officials he and four friends were […]

The late game on the Saturday docket for the Premier League saw Norwich City equalize and hold on, earning a point at Anfield against Liverpool. Without Lucas Leiva, who was serving a mandatory match suspension for yellow card accumulation, Kenny Dalglish chose an attacking 4-4-2 setup. While effectively having three forwards on the pitch, Craig […]

Wolves against Swansea is the early kick-off today, and what a game it should be. Mick McCarthy's side haven't won in their last five games, while Swansea haven't won away all season. Something has got to give today. Wolves have made one change to their line-up, and they start with a 4-4-2 with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake […]

West Brom are clearly recognised by most Premier League fans and pundits as the yoyo team of the division. Over the last 10 years they have been promoted to the Premier League four times and relegated three times. Even their now classic BOING BOING celebration sort of represents their predicament as the perennial yoyo club. […]

DirecTV has threatened to remove FOX Soccer and FOX Soccer Plus from its programming by November 1st if the satellite provider is unable to make a deal with FOX. According to DirecTV, NewsCorp (the parent company of FOX) is demanding that DirecTV pay a 40% increase to show FOX sports channels which include FOX Soccer, […]

ESPN and FOX are not only competitive when it comes to bidding for World Cup TV rights. They're also very competitive in the TV ratings game, namely the number of viewers watching Premier League matches on U.S. television. EPL Talk can reveal that ESPN2's broadcast of the Premier League game between Liverpool and Manchester United on […]

The last berth in the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs was finalized last night when the New York Red Bulls beat Philadelphia Union 1-0 (on an own goal) to qualify for the playoffs, this ending the playoff dreams of Portland Timbers and Chicago Fire. It was an early goal that would stand for the final 90 […]

“Fact Or Fiction” is a series that will be run every Friday. In this series, an assertion will be made regarding an impacting topic in the Premier League. EPL Talk writers Matt Hackenmiller and Earl Reed each offer their views on whether the statement is “Fact or Fiction.” Fact or Fiction: Juan Mata is now […]

FOX has won the English-language TV rights in the United States for the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments, says several sources. UPDATE: FOX and Telemundo, combined, paid more than a staggering $1 billion for rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, according to Reuters. FOX paid $425 million for English-language rights for the […]

This weekend’s game between the two Manchester clubs promises much and we all certainly hope it delivers. A City win would hand them a five point advantage over their bitter rivals, while a United win would propel them to top of the table in the process displacing their ‘’Noisy Neighbours’’. So who’s going to win? […]

It's tough to believe we've reached the end of the 2011 season already. Seems like yesterday that Robert, Daniel, Kristan and I were hashing out who would be previewing which teams. I wanted to preview the local Philadelphia Union, and was granted the privilege. For kicks, I just looked back at my preview article, and […]

About two weeks ago Roy Hodgson said that West Bromwich Albion's deal for Shane Long was "potentially the bargain of the season." Shane Long moved from Reading in the Championship to the Baggies for a fee of £4.5 million (potentially rising to £6.5million). Although this may be a small sum for many of the top […]

Payback – August 7 2011 must still loom large in Manchester City’s head when things took a turn for the worse after the first half of the Community Shield. Manchester City held a commanding 2-0 lead but goals by Smalling and Nani hurt, while the third one hurt even more with Vincent Kompany letting Nani […]

Since Sir Bobby Robson was relieved of his managerial reigns at St. James' Park, there have been a steady succession of suitors to his throne. Most notable and arguably most successful was Chris Hughton who was ignominiously sacked by villainous millionaire owner Mike Ashley. After that disgraceful dismissal last October, Alan Pardew was handed the […]

Wolverhampton Wanderers were off to a flying start this season picking up seven points from a possible nine. Unfortunately for Wolves reality has set in and the team hasn’t gained a point in their last five. Losses to Tottenham, QPR, Liverpool, Newcastle and most recently West Brom in the Black Country Derby have sunk this […]