Moyes probably won't have the answers for Arsenal

Arsenal against Manchester United on Sunday - any interest? No, didn't think so!

People keep expecting Arsene Wenger's team to fail, but we're now over a quarter of the way through the season and they are top of the league and have the most in-form player in the Premier League, if not Europe right now.

David Moyes on the other hand spent 27.5 million pounds on Marouane Fellaini. He wasn't that good at Everton, and looks completely out of his depth at Manchester United. He deserves time to find his feet, but maybe he can't see them through all that hair - i know, the tumbleweed is rolling right now, and I'm ok with it.

United have to hope they can outscore Arsenal, as it's unlikely they will dominate the ball, even at Old Trafford.

A defeat for Arsenal isn't the end of the world, and while it's another reason to question what is going on with Moyes's team, it's not the end for them either. They are more than capable of going on a streak, but a defeat here would create a lot of questions that the Scotsman doesn't appear to have the answer for.

I can't see Palace or Sunderland picking up points against Everton or Manchester City, and you have to fear for both of them already. West Ham against Norwich isn't quite a 6-pointer yet, but if the Hammers fail to score again, the decision to put all the eggs in the Andy Carroll basket will look even worse.

***

It seems we just wait for El Clasico in Spain now, or for one of them to face Atletico. Really not much to say about La Liga except that we hope for a shock result rather than another record to be broken by Messi or Ronaldo.... German and French football don't have any huge games this weekend, but I do appreciate that they start the weekend fixtures on a Friday night - really helps me through the day!

***

And then there's Juventus v Napoli. Roma have made a great start in Serie A, but these two are teh pre-season favorites and have both started really well. Hopefully the midweek European ties won't have turned this into a defensive game, but then it's Serie A, so expect some of that anyway! Tevez has been running riot in Italy, with Higuain, Hamsik and co. likely to play their own brand of counter-attacking football.

Rafa Benitez deserves a lot of credit, but Antonio Conte has built a formidable team, with Paul Pogba developing into a top-class player. Juventus have the home advantage and that puts them in poll position, but who cares who wins?* It's just another great game in another fantastic weekend of football.

*I care who wins, and I hope it's Juve - but not sure why. Oh that's right, I have money on it! 

Liverpool out of the running, Roma disaster...

You'd think Liverpool had lost the league after their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday. They were away, against the league leaders, and didn't play well. Realistically, people shouldn't have been talking them up as title contenders anyway. Brendan Rodgers has done well to develop a team worthy of competing, but they are weak at the back and are not quite ready to compete with Arsenal, Chelsea or the Manchesters. They may be able to contend for that 4th spot, but they didn't force the pace against Arsenal and stood off when they needed to start dominating the game - with the second goal a key example.

Arsenal were good, and will contend. They haven't won anything yet.

Chelsea were bad, but will contend. Don't rule them out yet.

And Manchester United and City won games easily that they should when they spend the money they do. Let's not get carried away with that. Just be thankful you don't support Norwich.

***

Roma didn't win their 11th straight Serie A game. Most people probably thought they'd only win about 10 all year after finishing 7th last year, not qualifying for Europe and selling 3 of their best players. They are still top, although Napoli and Juventus are both looking good.

AC Milan are 19 points behind Roma, and just 3 above the relegation places. Mario Balotelli to Chelsea in January? Unlikely, but why not? He's going to lose his mind at some point, and maybe a few months away from Italy ahead of the World Cup will benefit him.

***

Zlatan didn't play, Monaco lost...not much else to say there! ...Bayern are now 36 games unbeaten in the Bundesliga - don't pretend there is anyone who can compete with them at the moment. A great side, and one that must still be favorites to win the Champions League too....Messi hasn't scored in 4, the world is going to end. Barcelona are still top, Atletico are holding on and Real Madrid are still a close third - but after that, the 4th placed Villareal are miles back - 14 points behind Barca with only a quarter of the season gone. Fair to say that La Liga isn't very competitive.

Almost 25 years, and it's worth watching Arsenal v Liverpool again!

Is it really almost 25 years since Michael Thomas lifted the ball over Bruce Grobbelaar to give Arsenal a 2-0 win and the league title at Liverpool? It doesn't seem like yesterday, but I can't believe it's from the 1988-89 season.

Those two meet again this weekend with far more at stake! Just kidding, but it is the game in the Premier League this weekend. Arsenal are at home and are two points clear of Liverpool (and Chelsea), although some people are already questioning if Arsenal can maintain their strong start after losses to Dortmund and Chelsea - neither of which was in the league.

Arsene Wenger wants to win the league again, make no mistake. I think he knows the Champions League is out of their reach unless they sign another striker, a 'keeper and another centre-back. So the league it is, and they have looked good so far. Aaron Ramsey has been immense, making Jack Wilshire look a shell of the player he was expected to be this year - Wilshire's struggles to get a starting place will help him in the longer term, but there's no doubt it's Ramsey and Mesut Ozil's team right now.

Liverpool are humming, Suarez and Sturridge are the league's two top scorers, they create a load of chances and have good support players competing for places. They look stronger at the back, although I still fancy an error or two from Skrtel or Kolo Toure.

Liverpool don't need to dominate the ball like Arsenal and will try and hit the Gunners on the break at the Emirates, but Arsenal have been a little more ruthless with their chances this season. As long as Giroud stays on, they have the upper hand in my opinion, but Liverpool will score - they just pose too many attacking threats right now, and are brimming with confidence.

It's by far the most interesting game of the weekend in the Premier League, although Everton v Spurs on the Sunday should be good viewing too.

***

Roma play tonight and Sunday, and will be hoping to go 11 for 11. They are fun to watch and aren't conceding goals. It's what you want your team to be, but then who doesn't want to watch Totti win games - apart from fans of Lazio, Inter, Juve, Sampdoria, oh wait, only neutrals and Roma fans love Frank.

***

Gareth Bale scored in midweek, twice. He's worth the money. He's not, he's still a very good player, but I reckon I'd have 5 or 6 in La Liga by now. Barcelona are averaging 3 goals a game and are still unbeaten - don't expect either of the big two to lose anytime soon.... Zlatan is out injured, so no need to watch Ligue Un! Just kidding, Falcao and Cavani are mustard too... Go to a Bundesliga game, don't watch it on TV. If you can't, search for a video of teh Dortmund fans at the Emirates last week - it'll give you goosebumps. 

Gervinho flying in Italy; Man United continue to struggle

I'm going to start with Italy as I still don't know how to describe Arsenal's first goal, either of the first two goals in the Chelsea game or why Manchester United will be lucky to finish fourth.

Roma are legit. There's no doubting that. 8 wins from 8 is fantastic in any league, but they have beaten Inter, Napoli and local rivals Lazio, scoring 22 goals and conceding just one. In four away wins, they have yet to let one in. And who plays for them? If I told you Gervinho was looking like a real footballer, no one would believe me. But he is, and Totti and De Rossi hold the team together, allowing Adam Ljajic, Miralem Pjanic and Allesandro Florenzi to flourish. When they sold Dani Osvaldo to Southampton, and labored (a little) to a 3-1 win over the MLS All-Stars, I thought mid-table may be their best bet this year. It may still be as Napoli, Juventus and Inter are all going to be sniffing around, but for now, Roma deserve the praise they are receiving - including Gervinho.

A hat-trick for Giuseppe Rossi for Fiorentina against Juve was nice in a World Cup season, he'll be in Brazil - but could have been the star the US really needs.

***

Barcelona could only draw and Atletico lost, with yet another late dubious penalty for Real Madrid ensuring they made up some ground on the early front runners.... Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are starting to pull away, but Bayer Leverkeusen are still riding the coattails right now... PSG and Monaco remain unbeaten, but it's to be expected with the money they spent.

***

Okay, so I had a chance to think about the Premier League and what went on this weekend. Arsenal looked great and scored a fantastic goal - in fairness they threaten goals like that most weeks, just this time it came off. Chelsea's goal is bizarre to me. I don't think it should count. The ball is in the goalkeeper's possession, and that's nine tenths of the law in my view. The fact Samuel Eto'o couldn't finish when Hazard passed back to him, then got hit in the head on the floor was some rough justice, but it is just going to lead to more hassle. 'Keepers don't need to bounce the ball, and hopefully this will cut that out, or they'll be argument of consistency.

Manchester United look average at best. Southampton are a good side, and bossed it at times, but United should still fancy themselves, even with a $40 million microphone in midfield. Fellaini isn't bad, but he's not good. Moyes couldn't get anyone else and overpaid, but the Belgian is just not up to it - he can play, but he's not the leader they need in midfield. And what it comes down to me is that Fergie got out at the right time. Rooney and van Persie are still quality players, but there isn't much else right now. They have no structure or creativity, hence the excitement about Adnan Janujaz - he could be great, but wouldn't be the focus yet if United had other players on form right now.

European Leagues starting to take shape

So who was the biggest winner this weekend? PSG? Roma? Liverpool? West Ham?

It all depends on who you support, so you can never really say! See, summed that up perfectly.

Dortmund lost for the first time this season, Bayern Munich were held. Juventus and Napoli are hot on the heels of Roma, who thumped Inter 3-0 and made it 7 from 7 in Serie A. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid moved to 8 wins from 8, and Real Madrid had another 94th minute winner - seems those top teams need another 5 minutes to win games, even when there were no injuries of subsitutions! Big spending Monaco and PSG sit atop Ligue Un, with Falcao leading the way with 7 goals. And I didn't pause for breath to mention the Dutch League (Twente and PSV top) or Portugal's top flight (Porto are top).

***

The leagues are starting to take shape all over Europe, and it makes you worry if your team is in the relegation zone, or makes you dare to dream if you're in contention.

Take Southampton and Sunderland. One is sitting in the top 4, playing well and already have a third of the points they will need to survive, from just 7 games. The other have 1 point from 7, have sacked their manager, lost their best striker to injury and look a bit of a shambles. Yes, Sunderland played well against both Liverpool and Manchester United in the last 2 weeks, but they're already 6 points from safety and I can't see them winning 1 game, let alone 2 to rejoin the pack. If they are still bottom and in single digits by the end of November, it's all pretty much done and dusted.

And then there were questions about Southampton last year. They sacked Nigel Adkins after all he had done for the club and took a new direction. They have spent a lot of money, become very hard to beat at home, and could be this season's West Brom. It's not necessarily that they are doing things right, but they started well, got points on the board and can now build without having to worry too much about what's going on beneath them.

***

And so on to another International week. They seem to come around far too often for my liking, but usually just because England are painful to watch. Gives the Geezer a chance to rest though, and who doesn't want to take some time to reflect on a huge win at White Hart Lane!

Roma make is 5 from 5; Napoli slip, Balotelli scores again

I think I just wanted to add this GIF of Pjanic's goal for Roma, as I love a chip.

But Roma have won five from five and sit two points clear of Juventus and Napoli at the top of Serie A. They probably won't win it, but it's a great start to the season, and I can't get enough of Francesco Totti - hope that new contract means we get a few more years of appreciating one of the games great talents. He leads the league in assists again this year, and probably will do in 2020 the way he is going.

Napoli slipped up against bottom-placed Sassuolo, but for once I have to agree with Rafa. They can't win every game and he'll take a point from a poor performance.

Mad Mario scored again for AC Milan, but is facing a 3 game ban for his tirade after their defeat to Napoli at the weekend. There's only so many chances a player gets, regardless of talent. He has it all, but there's a reason he's been at 3 clubs already and is only 23.

A big game for Inter and Fiorentina today. Both are unbeaten and can join Juve and Napoli on 13 points with a win. Again, both may struggle to compete for the title this year, but this game is the first big test of how competitive they will be - and potentially show the areas they need to strengthen before the January window.  

Here's hoping for a few of these this season

Who doesn't love a mistake?

Fulham fans would love to Mark Schwarzer make a few of these after he left for Chelsea

Back to work already?

Can't believe it's Monday again. Nor can this guy. Although not sure i'll be making that face or pulling my shorts that high in the office.

Totti showed that class is permanent

AS Roma schooled the MLS All-Stars in 3-1 victory

Italian giants dominated the game, as Totti stood out as the star performer

It wasn't a huge surprise to see the MLS team lose to Roma, and for those of you who hadn't seen much of Francesco Totti (or Frank as he's known to me), there was a real lesson in vision, technique and awareness. Frank may move like a 36 year-old, but he proved why he's the second leading scorer in Serie A history with 227 goals. Frank showed last night why he's known as Il Re di Roma (The King of Rome), but his display wasn't a surprise to me. I witnessed the Rome derby at the Stadio Olimpico in 2002 (and got tear-gassed with my Dad) when Roma beat Lazio 5-1. Vincenzo Montella scored 4 and was outstanding, but then Frank did this and I almost started crying (but I'm going to blame the tear gas!!).

MLS All-Stars vs AS Roma Preview

The MLS All-Stars (probably 9 starters that you've never heard of) are playing AS Roma tonight in Kansas City. The format is foreign opposition against the American (and Canadian) league’s very best. It has an exhibition game feel and tempo, but that's because it is an exhibition game. It's not that no-one cares, but it's a pre-season game for the Italian side, and hard to convince players like Thierry Henry and Marco Di Vaio that they should go all-out. Some players may be trying to impress foreign scouts, and to prove that they can compete.

The showcase was awarded to Kansas City last year following a successful rebranding and subsequent passionate fanbase culture that has led to its 18,000-seat stadium constantly selling out. The all-star festivities--with citywide parties, charitable causes, activities and a state-of-the-league conference with the league commissioner, Don Garber--mirrors that of what the Big 3 sports usually produce annually.

It's also a way to celebrate the US winning the Gold Cup (7 of that team are in the squad), and a good way to show the progress the MLS is making.

They'll be plenty of flag waving and people with faces painted, but unfortunately the majority of American 'sports fans' will be watching game 107 out of 162 in the regular season of baseball or talking about how many snaps Tim Tebow will get in pre-season NFL games!  

Get ESPN2 on at 9pm (US Eastern time) for the game (you'll never guess what's on regular ESPN at that time).