This past weekend was a very rivalrous weekend in the world of soccer. Two of the biggest league derbies happened in England, and one huge derby happened in Spain. Obviously, I’m talking about the North London and Merseyside Derbies in the Premier League, and the Madrid Derby in La Liga. It’s always a fun weekend to watch soccer when there are derby games on, which makes this weekend extra special and awesome because there were three huge derby’s! Most of these matches were extremely exciting to watch, and I want to go into a little more detail about each one.
Causeway Crowd
First, we’ll go over the Merseyside Derby. Liverpool v. Everton matches always produce something entertaining to watch. Well, that is with the exception of this weekend’s match. I personally expected Liverpool to win, because their lineup looked better, and because Everton was missing a certain Tim Howard in goal (however their backup has been doing very well to replace him).
I watched the game, and there were times when I almost turned it off because Liverpool was the only team creating chances, and they still couldn’t convert. I was disappointed with this match, because I hate 0-0 draws, and because it was extremely aggravating to see so many chances for Liverpool (17 shots on goal I believe) and none converted.
Next we’ll go on to talk about the North London Derby. This game hit me especially hard because I’m an Arsenal supporter, but I will give an unbiased review of the game. Arsenal looked a bit out of sync with each other during this game, and I would have to think it’s somewhat due to the absence of their goal scoring machine Alexis Sanchez. It was shown that Alexis is as much of a play maker as he is a goal scorer. Ozil is also a great play maker for the team, yet he couldn’t do it for the team during this very important derby game.
Tottenham played very well throughout the game, but there is one man in particular who stood out in particular. Harry Kane. Harry Kane scored both of Tottenham’s goals in their 2-1 victory, and he has been in great form for the Spurs, scoring a brace in both of his last two games for the club. He let the Spurs to victory this weekend and it looks like he’ll have to keep up this form, with Tottenham now surpassing Arsenal for 5th in the league. Tottenham is in great form right now, and it’s going to be tough for Arsenal or any other team to surpass them in the table.
Aug 2, 2014; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Real Madrid before the game against the Manchester United at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Now we move to the Madrid Derby. Real Madrid have been a nearly impossible team to beat this season, at one point winning 20+ games in a row. However, recently there has been one team that Real Madrid can’t seem to beat. And that team is Atletico Madrid. In the last 3 games the teams played against each other, Atletico has outscored Real 8-2. In this most recent Madrid Derby Atletico won 4-0 with goals from Tiago, Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann, and Mario Mandzukic. If Atletico keep up this form they have been in, they could be title contenders again.
What do you think about these Derbies? Let me know in the comments below.
Next: USMNT: A Look at March Friendlies
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