On Saturday, September 11, Manchester City is set to host the Blackburn Rovers. In the new season, Manchester City hasn’t gotten off to the fast start they hoped for, posing a win, a draw, and a loss. Against Sunderland, the loss came in their last EPL game. Meanwhile, the Blackburn Rovers have two losses and one win. With Arsenal, their most recent loss came in a hard fought match. For an early rise up the standings is what these two teams are looking for.

In the EPL last year, Manchester City had a successful season, and it is hoping for another effort. With a scoreless draw against Tottenham and a 3-0 win against Liverpool, Manchester City got off to a promising start. Goalie Joe Hart is still solid in goal, although he let in his first goal of the season against Sunderland. In the win against Liverpool, Carlos Tevez notched two goals and he is one of the main keys to the offense.

The Blackburn Rovers, in each of their three matches so far this season have scored one goal, each coming from a different player. Their offense is versatile, although it is not as potent as that of Manchester City. Goalie Paul Robinson has allowed two goals in the two subsequent games, after a season opening shutout. With eight shots, Nikola Kalinic leads the offensive attack, but only two have been on goal and one scored.

Manchester City has the superior goalie and the home field edge. They have the potential to be aggressive, although their offense stalled against Sunderland. Against Arsenal, Blackburn must try to capitalize on a better than expected performance. Against a team as strong as Manchester City, that might be a tall order.

On Saturday August 28, 2010, the Los Angeles Galaxy will host the Kansas City Wizards at the Home Depot Center. Kick off will be at 7:30 P.M Pacific Time, as a large crowd is expected to fill the stadium for this weekend game.

The previous meeting between the two teams in April ended with a scoreless draw. But the next game is going to be a different story.

The clash between Los Angeles and Kansas City may not be full of surprises but the soccer betting odds will definitely be an interesting one. The preview for this game is based on nothing more than pure statistics. The Galaxy are currently the best team in the MLS, compiling 43 points in 21 games. As of the last week of August, Los Angeles leads the league in most goals scored (32) and wins (13.) The stats say that LA Galaxy should easily beat Kansas City Wizards on Saturday. Manager Bruce Arena has done an excellent job in keeping his team at top of the league table.

However, LA Galaxy have lost 3 games in August, which somewhat disrupted the team’s momentum as the undisputed kings of the MLS. A Loss to Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes shook up Galaxy’s confidence. Even a friendly 3-2 loss to European powerhouse Real Madrid was demoralizing.

On the other side, Kansas City Wizards had some mixed results in August including a draw with Real Salt Lake and a convincing 4-1 victory over New England Revolution. The Wizards only have 23 points in 20 games, and are ranked fifth in the Eastern Conference. What the Wizards and Galaxy share in common is a loss to the Earthquakes in August. Based on the most recent results, Kansas City may take advantage of Los Angeles’ inconsistent performance in August.

When the game day arrives, there are high expectations on the attacking forces of Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle to lead the Galaxy to an easy victory. The Wizards are just a mediocre team, and will be nothing more than underdogs trying to stop a powerhouse. There is simply not enough star part on the Kansas City squad to stop the best team in the league.

Chelsea, by tabling a £25 million take-it or-leave-it offer with Santos in the next 24 hours, the club plan to step up their pursuit of highly rated Brazilian striker Neymar.

Attempting to resolve an escalating row over the 18-year-old who recently made his debut for the Selecao, representatives of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich are currently in Brazil.

For Neymar, Chelsea had a £17 million bid which was rejected last month and are set to follow it up with a £25 million final offer. As Santos is holding out for the £29.6 million buyout clause in his contract, that £25 million still might not be good enough.

Despite Neymar had publicly expressed doubts about leaving – privately informing his club that he wishes to join Chelsea, the Brazilian giants won’t budge from their stance

Because Neymar value has already soared to beyond his buyout price, therefore the economic rights of the player are owned by investors, who believe that they need to persuade him to sign a new contract.

One of the reliable sources said, “There is a big fight still on to convince Santos to part with the player. There is strong pressure on the boy to stay. In the next few days we shall know one way or the other whether a deal with Chelsea can be achieved.”

For Neymar, Chelsea has been caught up in an amazing tug-of-war with Santos threatening to report them to FIFA for tapping up the striker.

He added, “The President of Santos had dinner with agent Pini Zahavi and the people from Chelsea. How can that be tapping up? The boy was forced to go onto Brazilian TV to say he wants to stay with Santos, when the truth is that he wants to go to Chelsea.”

For fans, the game on Saturday August 14 between Los Angeles Galaxy and the New York Red Bulls is going to be full of excitement because of a few big names. The game will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel and Kickoff will be at 6:00 p.m.

By signing Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez, New York has made some major headlines across the MLS and the entire global soccer world, in the last several weeks. To bring these two players from Barcelona F.C. to an American club, it was an interesting move.

Marquez is the star of the Mexican national team, while Henry is one of the greatest French strikers of all time. To fill up the new Red Bull Arena almost to capacity is what these two international stars promise. Henry’s and Marquez’s second home game appearances, it is expected that more than 20,000 fans will show up at Red Bull Arena. Red Bulls true star, Juan Pablo Angel has been overshadowed by all of this talk about the new arrivals. In fact, in this season once again by scoring more than 10 goals in less than 20 games so far, Angel has proved his striking abilities.

The clash of New York and Los Angeles will be a fight between the league’s best teams. While the Red Bulls are the second best in the Eastern conference, so far the Galaxy comes in with the best MLS record. To lead Los Angeles to a victory against New York, there are plenty of expectations on Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle. Can the Galaxy handle the pressure of facing some of the biggest names in MLS, the question remains?

On Thursday, August 5th, Columbus will travel to Union Field to face Philadelphia in MLS action. With one game each left to play before this pivotal match, Columbus sits first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 10-3-4 while Philadelphia is 6th in the East with a less than impressive record of 4-8-2.

For Columbus, online sports betting star, Will Hesmer, their goalkeeper, is of utmost importance. While that should go without saying, Hesmer is a huge part of Columbus’ success. In 17 games started this season, he has made 45 saves. On the other hand, Chris Seitz, Philadelphia’s goalkeeper, is having a fairly mediocre year. In 14 games started, he has only made 23 saves.

Offensively, Columbus is very balanced. Guillermo Barros Schelotto has 5 goals on the season, Emilio Renteria has 4, and several other players have goals as well. Philadelphia is almost a polar opposite. Their offense mainly relies on two players: Sébastien Le Toux, who has 7 goals on the season, and Danny Mwanga, who has 5. The problem with this is that when Le Toux and Mwanga have a bad game, Philadelphia typically loses.

Despite the large gap in their records, this is still a pivotal match in the MLS Eastern conference. Columbus is looking to stay at the top, and Philadelphia is trying to claw their way back into contention. This match should provide plenty of action, and if Philadelphia can get everyone on the same page, they could certainly give Columbus a run for their money.

The Galaxy’s home field, the Home Depot Center in Carson, Thursday July 22, the San Jose Earthquakes will take on the Los Angeles Galaxy. With 39 points and a 12-2 record, the Galaxy leads the entire MLS and the MLS Western Conference.

With a pedestrian record of 6-4, the San Jose Earthquakes come into their meeting versus the Galaxy. With their other forwards, they will have trouble finding the back of the net, aside from Chris Wondolowski, who has six goals. San Jose’s last two matches were a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia and a 0-0 tie with Tottenheim.

United States World Cup star, midfielder Landon Donovan is back on United States soil for the Los Angeles Galaxy, along with striker and leading scorer for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Edson Buddle. With 11 goals, out of which five are game winners, Buddle leads the MLS and with 10 assists, Landon Donovan leads the MLS. David Beckham, high paid celebrity player for the Galaxy is still not available but they do not look like they are missing him.

In this match against San Jose, the Los Angeles Galaxy should be hitting full stride. The Galaxy should be able to mow down the remaining competition, with the best midfielder in the MLS, Landon Donovan and leading striker back in the fold for his second match, Edson Buddle, as they head for the MLS title game. San Jose can’t contain the Galaxy’s high octane offense, although they do have a good defense.

It was an intense action packed game, the 2010 World Cup semifinal between the Netherlands and Uruguay. With great previous World Cup records, both of these teams have rich football heritage. However, coming into Green Point Stadium in Capetown, the Dutch were the heavy favorites. The Netherlands celebrated their success in the South African city where Dutch roots have been engraved since the 17th century, after winning 3-2 at the end of 90 minutes of regulation play. Previously reaching the 1974 and 1978 finals, the Netherlands advanced to their third World Cup Final.

Due to suspensions, both teams missed some key players. The Netherlands missed Nigel De Jong in the midfield and back end, while Uruguay did not have the striking power from Luis Suarez. Captain Diego Forlan
on his shoulders had to carry all of the expectations and hopes for Uruguay. Meanwhile, in the important victory, the Dutch had several players that were actively involved.

the first goal of the match was scored by Dutch captain Giovanni Van Bronckhorst to give his team a 1-0 lead. Uruguay’s Goalkeeper Muslera had no chance of saving it when he fired a long range shot with his left into the top corner of the goal, at the 18th minute. A magnificent left foot goal of his own was scored by Uruguay’s star Forlan in the 41st minute, to tie the game 1-1.

Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder in the 70th minute, scored a goal that took some deflections from Uruguay’s defenders. To give his team a 3-1 lead, the skilled Dutch maestro Arjen Robben scored a header only three minutes later, and secure a spot in the World Cup final. However, as Pereira scored a goal in stoppage time to make it 3-2, Uruguay’s “never die” character was proven once again. to keep their lead, the Dutch were under heavy pressure in the final moments of the game. The Dutch team and fans all over the world burst with joy after a few nervous minutes.

There was a lot at stake in the 2010 FIFA World Cup semifinal between Germany and Spain. All of the historic and recent records insisted that German team was the heavy favorite in this game. Meanwhile, the Spanish team entered completely new territory in the World Cup stages, reaching their first ever semifinal. Germany breezed through its first round and quarterfinal games, while Spain struggled. Nevertheless, over 61,000 fans at Durban Stadium knew they’d witness an unpredictable battle.

Germany came into this Semifinal match without Thomas Mueller, who was suspended. Mueller, who scored 4 goals at this year’s World Cup, knew that his absence could play a major role in the outcome of the match.

During the first half, Spain missed some great opportunities to take an early lead with some plays from David Villa, Pedro, and Iniesta. The Spanish side controlled most of the possession during the first half, and the German’s barely had any looks at the Spanish goal. Tied at 0-0, the teams headed into the locker room to come up with some new strategies.

Early in the second half, German coach Joachim Low introduced Marcell Jansen and Toni Kroos to the pitch. The substitution didn’t do much for the German side. Only moments later in the 74th minute, defender Carles Puyol leaped into the air and hit a header from a corner kick to give Spain a 1-0 lead.

In the last 15 minutes of the game, Germany looked disorganized and failed to create any meaningful plays from any side of the pitch. Spain defended its lead well and advanced to its first ever World Cup Final.

At the end of the day, Spain simply was more aggressive, as evident by 13 total shots taken, compared to Germany’s only 5 shots. For such an occasion, it was a surprisingly clean match, as no warning cards were given out.

Saturday’s quarterfinal match between Germany and Argentina features two soccer powerhouses who have a budding rivalry.

Germany eliminated Argentina from the 2006 World Cup in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks in a game that ended with players and staff from both teams clashing. A war of words has preceded Saturday’s match, and fans will be treated to a hard-fought, contentious match between two of the world’s best.

German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has accused Argentina of a “lack of respect” for the game and has criticized them for their apparent ability to influence officials. “You see how they gesticulate, how they try to influence the referee. That is not part of the game. That is a lack of respect. They are like that. We should not be provoked by them,” Schweinsteiger said.

Germany played just well enough to win Group D, winning against Australia and Ghana but suffering a loss to Serbia. They started the knockout stage very well, however, defeating England 4-1. Their young stars have been tremendous in the tournament. Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller have been magnificent, overcoming doubts that this World Cup was too soon for them. Ozil has played so well that Werder Bremen general manager Klaus Allofs has stated that he has outshone Argentina midfielder Lionel Messi, who is widely regarded as the world’s best player.

Argentina represents a much bigger challenge for Germany than any other team they have faced. They are one of two teams to win all four of their games and they feature the always-intimidating Messi. In addition to Messi, Argentina has joint top scorer Gonzalo Higuain who has scored four goals in the tournament.

Saturday’s match should be something special. The two teams are very evenly matched and they both feature some of the world’s best young players. Schweinsteiger’s words will certainly be in the minds of both teams as the international soccer giants seek to advance to the semifinals.

On South African soil in front of a roaring 40,000 fans in Bloemfontein, it was acclaimed to be a classic European clash. However, in the 19th minute the English quickly went down 1-0, after losing a contested volley from German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer that outstretched the defense and allowed Miroslav Klose to knife the ball past goalie David James.

After losing a contested volley from German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer that outstretched the defense and allowed Miroslav Klose to knife the ball past goalie David James, after drawing first blood. The English rallied back with a lofted pass that gave Matthew Upson a sensational header to challenge the Germans 2-1, with their backs against the wall in the 36th minute.

As English midfielder Frank Lampard boomed a rifling shot off of the cross bar that landed two to three feet inside the goal line which was cleverly recovered by the German keeper Neuer and not tallied as a goal, soon after came one of the worst blown calls in this year’s World Cup. After ninety minutes of play, the English retreated into the locker room justifiably upset.

The downtrodden hopes of the English turned to despair after failing to convert on a free kick, as the second half wore on. by streaking along the sideline to find Müller for the easy score, German midfielder Mesut Özil provided a lightning counterattack. Müller also provided the final dagger to a 4-1 finish that eliminated the English from the cup.