Avoiding the Drop

Hailing a Cab to Heathrow, No Doubt.

Ross County F.C. v. Raith Rovers F.C. (Saturday)

Can they make it ten in a row in all competitions? Quite possibly- Raith Rovers are in second to last place in the SFL First Division and they’ve only won once in their last five league matches. Should County win this match they could get some help from the teams below them as second place Falkirk and third place Dundee both face tough matches this weekend- Falkirk against Greenock Morton and Dundee against Hamilton. That being said, I must admit to getting a little dizzy at the prospect of the Staggies ending the weekend twelve points clear at the top of the table. I do not, however, have “promotion fever.” If County are still in first place by a large margin at the midway point of the season, however, I may have to start including the “magic number” in each of their match previews.

Newcastle United F.C. v. Chelsea F.C. (Saturday)

The difference is only a single point, but who would have thought coming into this match that it would be Newcastle that was closer to the top of the table than Chelsea? Even more interesting is that all of the pressure will be on Chelsea: they were bounced out of the League Cup by Liverpool on Tuesday, and a loss here would put them in position to be leap-frogged by both Liverpool and Arsenal and fall to seventh place. Should they lose it will only add more fuel to the fire of those looking to show André Villas-Boas the way out of West London. Speaking of managers, I have to admit that prior to his time at Newcastle I didn’t think much of Alan Pardew and the fact that he replaced Chris Hughton (who I liked) didn’t help. That being said, it’s hard to argue with what he’s done at St. James Park this year.

Borussia Dortmund v. Borussia Mönchengladbach (Saturday)

This is not just the Borussenderby, but also a match between the first and second place clubs in the Bundesliga. The clubs are actually tied on points with Borussia Dortmund only having the upper hand through scoring more goals (both clubs have only conceded 9 times in 14 matches) and both have won four of their last five matches. I’m going to go ahead and put my money on the “underdog” in this match based on the logic that Dortmund are playing away from home and that they may be looking past it to their next match- a Champions League tilt against Olympique Marseille only three days later. Fun Fact: No player on Borussia Mönchengladbach has more than three goals this season. If the club wasn’t in second place I’d think that was a bad thing, but since they are- good job on defense!

Leeds United A.F.C. v. Millwall F.C. (Saturday)

Leeds did the memory of Gary Speed proud with a 4-0 thumping of Nottingham Forest last week, but this will be their first match at Elland Road since Speed’s death and the atmosphere at the ground and the motivation of the players should be at their peak. Add to that the fact that Leeds are in a promotion playoff spot in the Championship and they should give Millwall all that they can handle. Not that Millwall will be lacking in motivation- they are only two points above the relegation places and if other results go against them they could fall from 17^th to 22^nd place. Fun Fact: Leed’s Scottish international Ross McCormack is on the radar of several Premier League clubs after starting the season with 11 goals in 21 matches in all competitions. Wolves appear to be the front runners for his signature.

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. v. Sunderland A.F.C. (Sunday)

This could be a tough match to watch. Neither side is playing well and if there is a loser in this match that club could conceivably end the weekend with only Blackburn Rovers below them in the Premier League table. Who then, will win this battle to avoid dropping into the relegation zone? I was going to say Wolves initially and I became even more convinced that they would win when Sunderland sacked Steve Bruce earlier this week. Not a shock given the teams performance, but the odds of either of the two purported front runners- Mark Hughes and Martin O’Neill- being in place in time for this weekend’s match is unlikely. Plus, Wolves always seem to win this kind of match when they have to. Fun Fact: Steve Bruce won less than 30% of his matches while in charge of the Black Cats.

U.S.A. U17 v. Brazil U17 (Sunday)

This is the U.S.’s played their opening match of this friendly tournament against France on Wednesday (a 2-2 draw), played their second match against Turkey on Friday (result), and finish up with this match against Brazil. I was able to watch the first two matches and the word that kept creeping into my mind was “naiveté.” That may seem to be a strange word to use when describing a team of 16 year old boys, but it was clear to me that while the American players were the equals of their opponents in terms of athleticism and technical ability, when it came to being “match savvy,” they were clearly lacking. Perhaps its just a case of needing more experience against better opponents, but they really need to work on reading the match, decision making, and doing the hard work that leads to and prevents goals.