SoccerBlogs

With Arsenal's impressive 4-1 home victory against Wigan Athletic today, the Gunners are just one match away from guaranteeing a spot in the UEFA Champions League next season. For viewers in the United States, the match between Newcastle and Arsenal will be shown live on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.

While Arsenal will need to win on Sunday to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, a draw will be enough if Spurs draw their game.

ESPN is launching its own daily 30-minute news and highlights soccer show beginning August 11 entitled ESPN FC. The program will air Sunday through Friday, primarily on ESPN2, beginning August 11.

"Soccer's popularity is at an all-time high in the United States as fans are now more familiar with the world's top players, marquee clubs and national teams," said Scott Guglielmino, ESPN senior vice president for programming.

Jack Jewsbury, Portland Timbers vs Chivas, Photo: Gary Sheldon | ProstAmerika.com

With Major League Soccer set to start the 2013 season this weekend, I felt it was time to suggest some resolutions for the forthcoming season. Some of these might not be acceptable to some (or maybe a large amount) of MLS fans, but I am of the opinion that trying to abide by these resolutions would result in the 2013 MLS season being an enjoyable season, for us all.

An exciting week of soccer for MLS, with the playoffs in full swing, a full slate of nationally televised games, a snow delay and more. Before we get to the playoffs, here are a few other business items from the last few days. We'll start with playoff tv numbers, where ESPN2 saw just over 420k viewers for the Galaxy clincher over the Earthquakes.

The Houston Dynamo will play the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in the 2012 Eastern Conference Knockout Round playoff game. The game will be played Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. It can be seen nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

The winner of Wednesday's Knockout Round game will advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals, and will face Sporting Kansas City in a two-leg playoff series.

The U.S. Men's National Team's 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier match against Jamaica on Tuesday, Sept. 11, at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, has sold out. Nearly 24,000 spectators will be on hand to watch the U.S. at the home of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew, marking the fifth sellout for MNT matches played at the stadium.

ESPN has announced that all 16 matches from this summer's FIFA Confederations Cup will be shown live on US television and Internet. The tournament, which will be held June 15-30 in six cities in Brazil, will be televised across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, WatchESPN and ESPN3.com.

Live match coverage will begin on Saturday, June 15, on ESPN and WatchESPN with the tournament's opening match – host country Brazil vs.

Today's game between Manchester United and Manchester City will be shown live on US television, Internet and available as live audio.

Here's where you'll be able to find it on TV, Internet and online today:

• ESPN — The network will begin coverage at 2:30pm ET, while the game will kick off at 3pm ET.

FC Dallas announced to their season ticket holders that for 2013 the club has partnered with Time Warner Cable for TV Broadcasts.

Here are the highlights of the announcements:

- HD Coverage
- Road game traveling talent and productions (as opposed to doing it from the studio as sometimes in the past)
- Game will also be carried outside of the Dallas market.

Springfield MO Soccer -

Join AO Springfield tonight at Ry-Macs on the square in Springfield, to cheer on the US Men's Team, as they take on their northern rivals Canada.

The U.S. Men's National Team opens the 2013 campaign with an international friendly on Tuesday, Jan. 29, against Canada at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

The 2012 MLS Playoffs kick off tonight with the Chicago Fire playing host to the Houston Dynamo at Toyota Park (9pm, ESPN2).

The Dynamo are the road team, but enter the match with a wealth of experience. An MLS Cup finalist in 2011, the Dynamo struggled to find consistency late in the season.

Well folks, everything has come down to this. In about 4 hours, the fate of the Chicago Fire will be known. A loss would end our playoff run extremely prematurely, but a win would propel us into a matchup against Sporting KC. Without getting too far ahead of ourselves however, the focus is tonight.

The U.S. Men's National Team wraps up preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Jamaica. The U.S. first faces the Reggae Boyz on Sept. 7 in Kingston. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CT, and the match will be broadcast live on beIN SPORT.

Will Parchman of No Short Corners offers Top 5 things to watch for against Jamaica By the way, he's not a Zusi fan although it seems
Zusi Rising in the Ranks

What: U.

-To kick things off, the Fire finally announced their local broadcast partner today. The Fire will again appear on MY50 (WPWR). Here is the official release with all the details. It will be nice to have the Fire once again shown locally in Chicago, as well as many times nationally via NBC Sports, ESPN2, etc.

Wednesday's soccer on broadcast TV got off to a pretty entertaining start with the U.S.-Russia 2-2 draw on ESPN2. But that's just the opener on a Wednesday full of international friendlies on various networks throughout the day.

In Europe, the Czech Republic is facing Slovakia in a battle of bordering nations.

The U.S. Men's National Team can book a place in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tonight with a win or draw against Guatemala at Livestrong Sporting Park (7:15pm, ESPN2).

The Americans are coming off a last-minute 2-1 win against Antigua & Barbuda on Friday and will be the heavy favorites against a Guatemala side that has never beaten the United States on American soil.

By Mike Cardillo / That's On Point

"Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into." -- Oliver Hardy

The dust has settled, somewhat, from the U.S.'s "shock" defeat in Kingston to Jamaica on Friday night in the second round of CONCACAF 2014 World Cup qualifying.