Jose Mourinho may have his back against the wall. His Chelsea team experienced another disappointment in the midweek when they fell 5-4 in a penalty shootout to Stoke City in the League Cup. The dream of the quadruple is dead for the Blues….now they may face a relegation fight, but Chelsea vs. Liverpool goves them a chance to get some breathing room.
Chelsea are currently 15th in the table and 11 points behind first place Manchester City and Arsenal. The young season has been a nightmare for the Blues with the exception of Willian. The Brazilian speedster is enjoying his the best stretch of his career while tied for the team lead with two goals and handling most of the free kick and corner kick opportunities. Mourinho can only hope that Eden Hazard takes note and finds the back of the net for the first time this season.
Jurgen Klopp is also in need of a League win. While there is still some shine on the new manager, the Reds’ supporters want victories. They finally got one in the midweek as Liverpool advanced in the League Cup with a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield behind Nathaniel Clyne’s first goal for the club.
Klopp will look for more production from Clyne along with Christian Benteke and Philippe Coutinho. The Chelsea vs. Liverpool “Desperation Derby” can be seen on NBCSN on Saturday at 8:45 a.m. EDT.
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Other matches of note from England include Crystal Palace hosting Manchester United on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. EDT on NBCSN while Everton looks to end a two-match losing skid when they host American DeAndre Yedlin and Sunderland on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. EST on NBCSN.
The English football weekend concludes on Monday afternoon as Aston Villa looks to start a steady climb up from the bottom of the table when they pay a visit to White Hart Lane and Tottenham Hotspur at 3:00 p.m. EST on NBCSN.
After Chelsea VS. Liverpool: The Best Of The Rest Of The Weekend
In Spain, order has been restored as Real Madrid and Barcelona are tied at the top of the table for the first time all season. Real hosts Las Palmas on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. EDT on beIN Sports while later in the day Barcelona travels to Getafe at 3:30 p.m. EDT on beIN Sports. Sevilla and this author’s new favorite player, Yevhen Konoplyanka, look to extend their unbeaten streak in the league to five games as they travel to Villarreal on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. EDT on beIN Espanol. If you haven’t seen Konoplyanka since his arrival from Ukraine in the summer, I highly recommend checking him out.
In Italy, the Derby della Mole will take place in Torino as Juventus welcomes their cross-town rival. The Old Lady of Italian football is in the strange position of looking up at Torino F.C. in the table. Juve is mired in 12th place (11 points behind the league leaders Roma) while Torino is three spots ahead and looking to stave off a poor run that has seen the Bulls go winless in their last four league matches. All of the action from Juventus Stadium can be seen on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. EDT on beIN Sports.
The Ligue 1 leaders, PSG, host Rennes to start the football weekend on Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on beIN Sports. Second place Angers travels to Monte Carlo to face Monaco on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. EST on beIN Sports.
In the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich attempts to stretch their perfect start to eleven matches as they visit Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Sports 2. In other action, Chicharito and Bayer Leverkusen look to stretch their league unbeaten streak to six games when they visit Wolfsburg on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. EDT on Fox Sports 2.
Heading west, in Mexico, the match of the week sees second place Toluca host third place America on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST on Univision. League leaders Pumas travel to slumping Tijuana, losers of four in a row, on Friday at 11:30 p.m. EDT on Azteca.
In the States, the MLS Eastern and Western Conference Semifinals first legs will be played Sunday. Matchups will be determined by the second set of knockout games played Thursday night but the games will be aired on ESPN at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. EST and on Fox Sports 1 at 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.
Finally, back to Europe where in Sweden the 91st Allsvenskan season comes to a close on Sunday with three teams in contention for the title. Norrkoping, led by the league leader in goals, Emir Kujovic, is in first with 63 points and can clinch their first title since 1989 with a win at reigning champion Malmo FF.
Victory is a tall order, however, as Malmo (currently fourth in the table) has shown its strength by navigating through the UEFA Champions League qualifications where they clinched a berth in the group stage with a victory over Scottish Champions, Celtic.
If Norrkoping falters, IFK Goteborg sits one point behind the leaders. Goteborg welcomes Kalmar to the Gamla Ullevi where the home side could hoist their 14th league title. Finally, AIK is in third place, three points behind the leaders with a trip to Orebro on hand. If both Norrkoping and Goteborg stumble, AIK only needs to erase a five-goal difference to win the league.
Swedish football isn’t broadcast in the United States but if your heart is set on catching some of the action, it can be found online. All of the matches start at 8:00 a.m. EST on Sunday.
