Avoiding the Drop

Landycakes and Becks - tonight is the night

There was a bit of a lesson given yesterday in the Barclay’s Premier League.  Go look at the results, and you should see it.  We all talk in August about the table, who will be in the Champions League spots at the end, who could potentially break the stranglehold of the current “Big Four”, who could possibly relegated.  The stark reality of yesterday shows that a certain theory I espouse is more than likely the way to follow the results and get a real idea about who is legit and who is just a pretender to the throne.

Of the seven matches played yesterday in the Premier League, four home teams were outright winners, while the other three home teams drew.  Figuring out the table at the end of the season is fairly simple, just look for who has the best record in road contests.  The top two sides in the league as of now, Chelsea and Manchester United, battered two hapless opponents at home, and were ruthless in taking both high goal-differential victories.  Arsenal, missing top striker Robin van Persie due to injury, were toothless in dour loss at Sunderland.  Birmingham continued a decent start by taking a well-deserved win over Fulham, who still have only one victory away from Craven Cottage this season.

Look at the table, focusing on the “Away” column.  It’s elemental.  Win on the road and success will follow.

Tonight is the MLS Cup from Seattle, at 8:30 PM EST.  The combatants are the Los Angeles Galaxy, led by David Beckham and Landon Donovan, and artfully guided by Bruce Arena, taking on Real Salt Lake, a side that finished in fifth position in the Western Conference, 8 points behind the Galaxy.  RSL does have an extremely potent goal scoring attack, led by Robbie Findley who tallied 14 times.  They also have a victory and a draw over the Galaxy this season during the regular season.

It’s not going to matter.  The Galaxy are destined to win this match, in my opinion.  Landon Donovan was prolific again this season with 15 goals and six assists.  It’s not all the flash of Beckham and Donovan that make them the clear favorites in this match tonight, though, it’s the squad players.  Bruce Arena set out to get the squad strengthened outside of the two superstars and have done just that.  I’m fond of defenders Greg Berhalter and Omar Gonzalez, particularly.

For MLS, it’s a true showpiece tonight.  Beckham and Donovan, both very familiar to even non-hardcore fans, a great stadium in Seattle, a feisty opponent in RSL, and the high definition of ESPN’s broadcast.  There’s also a middling NFL contest for Sunday Night Football (Eagles visiting the Bears), and when all that’s factored in, it could be a fantastic night for Don Garber and MLS.  Make your predictions for the match in comments and we will likely have a CoverItLive tonight for the match.

Television listings, all times EST:

Perth v Sydney        0300    FSC
Dundee United v Celtic 0730    Setanta P
Bolton v Blackburn        0830    Setanta
Ajax v Heerenveen        0830    ESPN360
AS Roma v Bari        0900    ESPN360
AC Milan v Cagliari        0900    FSC
Tottenham v Wigan        1000    FSE
Stoke v Pompey        1100    FSC
St. Etienne v Lorient        1100    Setanta
Hamburg v Bochum        1130    GolTV
Zaragoza v Malaga        1300    ESPND/360
San Luis v Toluca        1300    Univision
Botafogo v Sao Paulo        1400    GolTV
Juventus v Udinese 1430    FSC/FSE
Montpellier v Lille        1445    Setanta
Osasuna v Valencia        1600    GolTV
Santos v Morelia        1800    Telefutura
MLS CUP 2030    ESPN/ESPND/360

Courtesy of Jamie Trecker’s blog.