Real Madrid v Levante Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds La Liga 12 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Real Madrid can extend their lead at the top of the table to ten points with a win as they host Levante in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga). The match will take place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain on Sunday, February 12, 2012.

Aston Villa v Manchester City Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 12 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Manchester City can go on top of the table with a draw or win as they travel to face 14th Aston Villa in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham, England on Sunday, February 12, 2012.

We've had a week to digest what happened against Manchester United. Plenty has been said and written about last week but now is the time to look forward and focus on Goodison.
Roman Abramovich has been at the training ground this week and it will be interesting to see the level of performance from Chelsea today, to see if his presence has given the players a kick up the arse to refocus their efforts on climbing up the table.

A trip to Goodison Park is just the tonic needed following our recent troubles, namely a bizarre, referee-induced three-goal collapse at home against Manchester United.

Wait, what? We rarely win at Everton? Shit.

Mean muggin'

We have actually won at Goodison this season, a 2-1 victory in extra time in the League Cup.

Osasuna v FC Barcelona Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds La Liga 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

FC Barcelona are seven points back in the title race as they travel to face Osasuna in the Spanish Primera Division (La Liga). The match will take place at the Estadio Reyno de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Udinese v AC Milan Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds Serie A 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

AC Milan can go top of the league table as they travel to face 4th place Udinese in the Italian Serie A. The match will take place at the Stadio Friuli Udine, Italy on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Newcastle United have won four of their last five league matches as they travel to face third place Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League.

Sunderland v Arsenal Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

The Black Cats have won their last three league matches as they host 6th place Arsenal in the English Premier League. The match will take place at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Everton v Chelsea Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last five league matches as they travel to face 11th place Everton in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Celtic v Inverness Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds SPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Celtic have not lost a league match since early October as they host 10th place Inverness in the Scottish Premier League. The match will take place at Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Dunfermline v Rangers Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds SPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Rangers look to close the gap in the title race as they travel to face Dunfermline in the Scottish Premier League. The match will take place at East End Park in Dunfermline, Scotland on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Manchester United v Liverpool Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, Betting Odds EPL 11 February 2012 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

Manchester United can go top of the table with a win as they host rivals Liverpool in the English Premier League. The match will take place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on Saturday, February 11, 2012.

Despite Newcastle performing well at the moment and the turmoil we've been through this week, the Newcastle fans aren't overly confident about getting a result down at the Lane. We're difficult to beat at home and they worry about their defence up against an inform Bale. Then again there are some fans that reckon they can get at least a draw or cheeky win out of us given that our strike force is misfiring and our current main threat in Bale had a shocker against Liverpool.

Liverpool travel to Manchester and Old Trafford to face United for the second time in two weeks in a match that, depending on your resting heart rate, is either mildly exciting or something that's possibly life threatening. There's as much to cover off the pitch as there is on, but for everyone's sanity we'll try to just do the football.

If there is one thing I've noticed about the Liverpool fan forums, it's that our level of performance and league position in relation to them is directly correlated to how much they bitch and moan about Spurs and how many posts riddled with bile spewing hatred of us there are.
As you can imagine, this is currently a high proportion.

February kicks off for Liverpool on Monday, with Spurs set to visit Anfield in the first match of another important month. Liverpool will look to carry their momentum from the domestic cup triumphs and a comfortable 3-0 win at Wolves into the match, which hopefully signals a turnaround from a disappointing league stretch to open 2012 that had seen them winless until the final day of January.

Help me, I'm having nightmares. More, after the jump:

Cold as ice

I'm not even sure this match is as important as what's transpiring around the orbit of England's Once Brave (Twice-Removed) John Terry- henceforth known as EOBTRJT. Jack cooked up some brilliance on the matter, as always, which I recommend you all read at once.

THFC1882 brings another new guest writer. Football blogger and Spurs fan (obviously) Anthony Lombardi previews Tottenham Hotspur's visit to Liverpool:

Liverpool v Tottenham: The Fab Four and Beyond.

This Monday Totteham Hotspur faces Liverpool at Anfield in a clash that is set to have far reaching effects across the top of the Premier League.

Kickoff from White Hart Lane at 7:00PM GMT/2:00PM EST

Liverpool's youngsters return to NextGen Series action today, with their quarterfinal matchup with Tottenham's U19s taking place in London. The brief break in senior squad action allows for attentions to turn to a competition that, on the whole, has been a terrific advertisement for youth football on the continent.

Wigan currently sit rock bottom of the Premiership, and the confidence on the forums reflects this. There were quite a few comments about how we've been playing some of the best football in the league recently, and despite our result against Man City, in which we were robbed (their words, not mine), the Spurs team that were beaten 1-0 by Wigan last season couldn't break down the lesser teams, and this season will be a very different prospect.

Back down to Earth for Liverpool, as they travel to the West Midlands to face 19th-place Wolverhampton. It's a stark contrast from the action of the past week, facing opposition at the bottom of the table, away from Anfield, and with nothing immediately at stake. And if you've paid attention to Liverpool at all this season, it's cause for concern, with form against the mid- and lower-table sides worlds apart from the displays we've seen the last two times out.

THFC1882 welcomes back guest writer Kenny Palmer with a preview of Tottenham Hotspur versus Wigan.

A week is a long time in football, as Spurs two contrasting performances highlighted. Heroic in defeat against Manchester City earning plaudits for the character they showed in coming back from 2-0 down to level the scores before losing to an injury time penalty.

This lunchtime, Chelsea travel to Loftus Road to take on QPR in the next round of the FA Cup but somehow I don't think much of the focus leading up to this one won't be on the football!.
I could sit here all day talking about what happened and what is going to happen in a couple of days time but there is a football match to be won so I would rather concentrate on that!

The magic of the FA Cup. The combined furor of two players and thus two clubs and two sets of support groups embroiled in an alleged race row.

And, of course, handshake gate revisited.

Not again

Saturday's FA Cup fixture between visiting Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road is brimmed with subplots.

The Columbus Crew now has a home on SBNation

Some inter-network news this morning for you all. As you guys may very well know we here at Stumptown Footy are part of a much larger, bigger and all around fantastic sports network of blogs and sites. This works out great for you guys since it means we have more resources available and more clout with which to get us into sports events and the like.

Liverpool's big week culminates with Manchester United's trip to Anfield in the fourth round of the FA Cup tomorrow, two weeks ahead of their visit to Old Trafford in league. United had the more arduous task in the third round, traveling across town to the Etihad, where they scraped past City in a 3-2 win.

Watford away in the 4th round of the FA Cup and the mood in their forums suggests that the result is a foregone conclusion and that it'll be a "nice" game to watch as the pressure is completely off. Some fans are hoping we play a weakened side to give them a chance at going through. One fan reckons that for the number of usual starting 11 players in the Spurs team will be equal to the number of goals they lose by.

A trip to Wembley and Liverpool's first cup final in nearly five years are on the line tomorrow, with Manchester City heading to Anfield for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final. Liverpool have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg after a Steven Gerrard penalty capped a dominant opening spell for Kenny Dalglish's squad, but there's little illusion that they'll be able to coast into the final, with City more than capable of turning the tie over.

THFC1882 welcomes another new guest writer. I've been wanting this guy to write for the blog for ages and finally he's found the time. Here's Adam Nathan with his preview of Tottenham Hotspur's crucial visit to Manchester City.

Spurs travel to the Etihad on Sunday to face perhaps their fiercest competitors for the Premier League Title in Manchester City.

Ducky's Note: Starting with this post, and hopefully not dying a premature death, BigFourZa will feature interviews with other football fans from around the world under the 'Fanboyism' section. The topics will range from match previews, reviews, transfer discussions, referee rants and a lot more.

Liverpool get back in the swing of things to see out a busy January, heading to the Reebok in hopes of getting three points for only the second time in six matches. As has mostly been the case in league over the past month and a half, they won't face an entirely overwhelming opposition, with Bolton only a point above Wigan in 19th.

This afternoon is a must win game for Chelsea and it really is as simple as that. We cannot afford to drop points over the next few weeks as we need to try and close the gap to the sides above us now in the league.
AVB and his Chelsea players have a job on their hands this afternoon as a rejuvenated Sunderland side under new man-manager Martin O'Neill travel to the Bridge with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Stoke City head to Anfield currently sitting alone in eighth and unbeaten in their last four. Tony Pulis' side has managed success both domestically and in Europe, as they'll accompany the two Manchester sides in the first knockout round of the Europa League early next month. Liverpool will hope to continue their relative hot streak at home, during which they've scored eight goals in their last two matches at Anfield and finally found a way to finish chances.

THFC1882 presents another guest writer. This time it's a guy I've known on Twitter for a while and he's always got something to say on our beloved Tottenham Hotspur. It gives me great pleasure to present Kenny Palmer with a preview of this weekend's game:

Wednesday's victory over Everton in the postponed game in hand from the start of the season has left Spurs level on points with Manchester United and 3 off leaders Manchester City.

The Wolves forums are awash with abuse aimed at manager Mick McCarthy. Not necessarily saying he should be axed, but criticising his team selection and tactics. There are two schools of thought, the first that he will play defensive and put 10 men behind the ball, or the second is that he will put out an attacking side and just go for it.

For the third time in two months, Liverpool and Manchester City square off, this time in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final. Liverpool's trip to the Eastlands last week ended with the visitors on the wrong end of a 0-3 result that saw City concede most of the possession but take the chances they managed to create.

Browsing through the Everton forums finds a lot of uneasy fans worried about thier injury hit side up against us on Wednesday night. Jagielka, Cahill, Osman, Rodwell, Hibbert and Coleman are all doubts, but Fellaini and Drenthe both came through their previous match unscathed and should feature.
They point out that the key to them winning this fixture will be controlling our midfield, a task that is made infinitely easier if Parker and Sandro are both out.

So the Premier League season is finally here, it's Tottenham Hotspur's opening game versus Everton..........

That's how the preview for this one should have started, but the unfortunate and unseemly rioting of early August put paid to Spurs opening fixture. Now this is the game in hand it's vital that Spurs get maximum points if they want to be taken seriously as title challengers.

This afternoon Portsmouth travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup third round. Can you believe that just over a year and a half ago, both sides fought out a tight encounter in the FA Cup final at Wembley!?.
Since then, both sides have had their dramas. We as Chelsea fans think we've had it bad but for Portsmouth fans, they had to face the reality of their football club being wound up, court cases, liquidators and contemplating life without their club anymore!

I awake from a two-day coma, just in time for the magic of the FA Cup. Provided this magic includes Romelu Lukaku and, of course, Josh McEachran I'm all in. Bring forth some elaborate illusions at the expense of our third-round opponents, Portsmouth.

Setup, the performance, and the prestige.