"Weekly" football post #73.

*Welcome to a day of preview posts. We'll start by previewing a big weekend for my favorite footie clubs, and later today (if my light work schedule continues) we'll get as pumped up as we can for the weekend Angels/Rangers series.

Newcastle United- At 1-1 on their preseason tests thus far, the Magpies roll into their only preseason home match this weekend. After our 1-2 loss to Norwich, combined with the fact that we'll be at St. James, you can imagine that the Toon will be shipping out their top flight players, looking to impart a little hope and excitement to the Mag Faithful; not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also because the bad guys, PSV Eindhoven, are a high powered squad. The Peasants are the high flying Dutch squad who have won their league a whopping 20 times, and in the first half of last season under their new coach they didn't lose a single game (league, National Cup, Eurpoa League). Despite a frustrating second half, the Red/White Army managed to hang on for third place in their League Table. We'll have to watch out for Balázs Dzsudzsák and Ola Toivonen who scored 14 and 13 netters respectively last season in league play (good enough for 6th and 9th in the league). So, who will we play to match up with these Dutch punks? Well, Dutchman Tim Krul will most likely see the action between the pipes, with Steve Harper still hurting and needing time to recover before the Premier League starts. Krul knows how these guys think, and he may be the key to stopping the Dutch onslaught! Newbie Sol Campbell may get a short bid on the pitch, but his fitness at this point is being questioned, so he may be held. James Perch should be getting back out there after missing a game, and Jonas Gutierrez may get his first preseason cap. Interestingly enough, Nile Ranger, Vuckic, and Ryan Donaldson are all playing with the Toon reserves tonight, and thus will probably be out tomorrow. We'll need big efforts from Kein Nolan, Shola, Xisco, Carroll, and Enrique to make a difference against PSV this weekend. Ball 'em up lads!

Celtic FC- The 0-3 loss to Braga in the first leg of the Champs Qualifier earlier this week has tainted all chatter about my SPL club in the "real" media. "Second class," "Lucky to sniff top 5 in the SPL," and "A second rate team from a third rate league," have all be heard around the internet lately. But, rally Celt fans! As I stated in the review of the embarrassing defeat, we seem to be a team that has trouble sniffing any good fortune on Champs away test (maybe because we didn't play Fortune...hm), and although it was disappointing, I'm not sure that says too much about the quality of this team or our league. It wasn't long ago when everyone was talking about the push for Celtic to join the top flight likes of the EPL (although preseason work against Man U may have squashed that hope from ever happening), and now we've all decided that Celtic is a worthless team in a worthless league? Please. Stand up and unite with hope, fellow Bhoys fans! Well, this weekend we have two matches for the Celts to try and turn the tide of public opinion. The first of the two preseason friendlies will be against the French side Lyon. Now, Lyon is a solid team, and should contend for the Ligue 1 title this year. Add to that the fact that Neil Lennon may want to rest some of his big guns in anticipation of the second leg battle with Braga, as he hopes for a crazy home effort, and what you get is a team that may lose big to Lyon. And, what you need to do is not worry about it! With Paddy McCourt sticking around, Samaras, and Fortune up front, and Zaluska manning the pipes, we're still going to be the class of the SPL this year, and this friendly with Lyon is of no matter other than to gauge our fitness. Rangers will not win again once the real matches start, mark my words. Now, the Aiden McGeady situation isn't so nice. McGeady, a long time Celt and LSF fav, is pretty much gone after getting sat against Braga. Lennon is saying it was due to injury, but that's dubious. Moscow has put in a bid, and it's probably only a matter of time. Following Lyon, we battle Arsenal the very next day (they play AC Milan on the day we play Lyon). I know I've been calling these two games friendlies, but they are really the Emirates Cup (not that this tiny four team tournament matters much), and it would be nice to put forth a good showing. Will we field the top gunners for either of the two games (say, against the Gunners, maybe)? Will we just relax prior to our final preseason battle with Braga with Champs League on the line? It'll be interesting to see. Isn't someone we know an Arsenal fan? Feck 'em!

CD Chivas USA- Big time match for my Goats this week. At 1-0-2 over their previous 3 MLS tests, El Rebaño are enjoying their longest unbeaten streak of the campaign. Last week's 1-1 draw with rivals and current champs RSL only further showed how far this team has come since their rough MLS start. While Borns will continue to sit out with his recent knee injury (can you please get fit so we can watch you play before you're off the Mexico?), Ante Jaziç has shown up in his place and done well. Not enough can be said about Dan Kennedy filling in as our keeper, and with ZTB expected to still be down with his ankle problems, my fellow Gaucho will look for an all important clean sheet against the East's top side. Giancarlo Maldonado has finally started to look as if he is connecting with his mates a little more effectively, but he and the middies need to look for the open Braun streaking in on goal. We missed two huge chances for Braun to attack last week, and we can't pass that up again (not only do we miss a chance to score, but he might get pissed and go off to Europe). Being home at the HDC in front of the home fans will be an added bonus for a team clearly moving forward. FS-Prime Ticket will be bringing us the video feed, so we'll see it all from first kick to final whistle, and hopefully we'll see a Chivas team ready to score early and defend well. The last time these two teams met, which was also the last time Bornstein and Kljestan played together if you can believe it, ZTB held strong until Columbus got a 90th minute penalty kick to win the game. You know revenge has to be on the minds of the Red & White after a cheap defeat like that. Predicted starting 11 (4-4-2): Dan Kennedy, Ante Jaziç, Yamith Cuesta, Michael Umaña, Dario Delgado, Rodolfo Espinoza, Blair Gavin, Paulo Nagamura, Jesus Padilla, Justin Braun, Giancarlo Maldonado. ¡Arriba las Chivas!

Enjoy the weekend, soccer fans.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē