Avoiding the Drop

OOH AHH, CANTONA!

All eyes this morning will be skipping back and forth from Glasgow to Manchester, and then to Madrid this afternoon.

At 7:30 AM EST, first place Rangers travel to second place Celtic to renew Fuse’s favourite rivalry, the Old Firm derby.  Rangers hold a seven point lead on Celtic at this point, and won the first match between the two at Ibrox by a 2-1 score.  Rangers Kris Boyd has been in ridiculous form lately, including a 5 goal outburst in last week’s 7-1 destruction of Dundee United.  Celtic have already lost three times in the league this season, to Rangers, Hearts and that same Dundee United.  Still, though, they are undefeated at Celtic Park thus far with six wins and two draws against zero losses.  If they are to save their season it must start today.

Meanwhile, in Manchester, one of the best English rivalries in history will be reborn as Leeds United, currently top of League One (the English third division) will march back into Old Trafford to come see about United, who stand second in the Premier League.  For those who may be unaware, I’ll do my best to describe this in American terms.  Try to imagine if the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970′s, with all their championships and glory, had gone through a financial crisis and found themselves eventually playing in Arena football, and then were suddenly given a game with an NFL side that they had been at war with back then, say the Oakland Raiders (if the Raiders were still actually good).  That’s what this match is like.  United’s main rivals have always been their cross-town foes, Manchester City, and some would say that Liverpool has taken Leeds place as the side most supporters want to see the Red Devils defeat.  For me, as a youngster growing up in England, I remember distinctly seeing these two sides match up and it always feeling like a big occasion (despite my Dad always saying how rubbish “northern football” was).

Today’s match is in the FA Cup, and while Leeds is a distinct underdog and these two sides would barely recognize each other in the six years it’s been between meetings, there are certain matchups that always get the blood boiling and this is one.  Don’t underestimate the chance for this match to be contentious, and you will get to see a fine striker from Leeds in the form of Jermaine Beckford.  Beckford has tallied 19 times in 27 club matches this season and is certainly being eyed by clubs at higher levels.  He’ll have a chance to shine in one of the hallowed halls of English football today.

Finally, in Madrid this afternoon, Real Madrid have the chance to slip back into first place after Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw by Villareal yesterday.  Madrid will travel to 13th place Osasuna who have only taken 8 of a possible 21 available points at their home stadium.  It appears that Cristiano Ronaldo will definitely feature today, but Kaka has apparently been left off the team sheet.  Madrid doesn’t meet up with Barcelona until April, so they must win these matches now and keep hanging points on the board to keep the champs motivated.

The television schedule today is not extensive as again, there are a lot of leagues on Winter/Holiday breaks.  Enjoy the matches and we’ll be around in comments and on Twitter.  Cheers.

0800    Manchester United x Leeds United, FSC, FA Cup
1100    Zaragoza x Deportivo Coruna, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com, Spain
1100    Almeria x Xerex, Directv 456, Spain
1100    Getafe x Valladolid, Directv 457, Spain
1100    Sporting Gijon x Malaga, Directv 458, Spain
1110    West Ham United x Arsenal, Setanta, FA Cup
1300    Mallorca x Athletic Bilbao, Gol TV, Spain
1300    Tranmere Rovers x Wolves, FSC, FA Cup
1315    Hearts x Hibs, Setanta (sdd), Scotland
1500    Osasuna x Real Madrid, Gol TV, Spain