Yesterdays notable results...

Hull City 1 - 0 Bolton Wanderers

American striker Jozy Altidore saw his first action in the English Premier League since joining Hull City on loan from Villareal as a 59th minute substitute. Moments later he had the Tiger faithful in a frenzy.

Bolton threatened consistently, but were unable to break through with a goal.

Manchester United 5 - 0 Wigan Athletic

The Red Devils opened up their attack in the second half at Wigan and the goals came in waves. Wayne Rooney tallied the first two with Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, and Nani adding scores of their own. The first score marked Rooney's 100th with the club, while Owen's 85th minute goal was his first. The attacking display is a great sign for Manchester fans considering the questions that have loomed following the loss of Ronaldo and Tevez. For Wigan it was another disappointment at home following a promising opener at Villa Park.

Arsenal 4 - 1 Portsmough

The Gunners put together another impressive performance, this time at the expense of an overmatched Pompey side. Abou Diaby tallied the first two scores of the match, with William Gallas and Aaron Ramsey adding one a piece. The news wasn't all good for Arsenal, they lost captain Cesc Fabregas with a hamstring injury halfway through the game. The team's top playmaker will likely be out for the upcoming Champions League match against Celtic, and could miss up to three weeks.

Sunderland 2 - 1 Blackburn Rovers

Sunderland picked up their second win of the season with a pair of goals from Kenwyne Jones.

Today's featured match...

Fulham vs. Chelsea

Chelsea have gone down a goal in each of their two most recent matches, however they remain perfect on the year, including their Community Shield win over Man United. Fulham will be without striker Andrew Johnson, although they've proven to be a tough test for opponents at Craven Cottage.

Enjoy the Sunday morning soccer, and feel free to stick around in the comment section throughout the game.

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The best action of the day will be going down at Bernabeu in Madrid. A win for the home side would pull them within a point of their arch-rivals in La Liga. Real has played like a new team under Juande Ramos, and if they want to make their title run official they'll need a win today.

Arjen Robben will return to Ramos' starting lineup despite a leg injury that was expected to keep him out. On the other side Barca will be without central defender Rafael Marquez who tore up his knee in the mid-week Champions League semifinal leg against Chelsea. The good news for the visitors is that Carlos Puyol will be back in the starting lineup in Marquez's spot, although he won't be available for the second leg against Chelsea thanks to a suspension. It's a shame, really. The game can be seen stateside on GolTV at 2 pm EST.

Meanwhile, in England, the Premier League features five televised matches. Unfortunately the most important one(s) will kickoff before most of us are awake. Regardless of that fact, I feel pretty confident writing that Manchester United has succeeded in burying Middlesbrough deeper into relegation hell. If it turns out that they pulled the massive upset then that's just something I'll have to live with. Chelsea takes on Fulham in the day's second match, kicking off at 9:40 on Setanta. Expect to see plenty of Chelsea's bench in that one as they'll certainly be holding something back in advance of their showdown with Barca.

For the rest of the weekend's televised matches check out Ives' breakdown. Stick around to discuss all of today's matches in the comment section.

Please forgive our inability to service your La Liga needs as we barely know enough to keep our Ronaldos and our Ronaldinhos apart. (All you need to know about both, house burglars: filthy rich.) However, please allow us to prepare your Strongbow and your six kinds of sausage as you settle in for a long morning of cursing at the telly (but without the gaiety in your language, please):

Newcastle v Liverpool (7.00 am ET) - We assume this one's already 4-1 by the time you read this, considering the injuries for Newcastle and the competition and all. If not, have another Strongbow on the house; you'll need it to survive what promises to be a strange morning.

Arsenal v Portsmouth (9.00 am ET) - If you choose to slide down the dial on this one, we'll happily break this one down for you in advance: Arsenal makes the extra extra pass and fails to attack except when they do and injure patrons in the 23rd row. Portsmouth confuses Tony Adams for Gerry Adams and refuses to come near the ball. After an appalling 1-1 tie (both goals by Adebayor), Wenger attacks the home groundskeeper for mixing 10% too much Kentucky bluegrass into the seed combination. This has been your Arsenal v Portsmouth early final.

West Ham v Stoke City (9.00 am ET) - If they must. On the other hand, the safest place in Britain this afternoon has to be Upton Park as Craig Bellamy won't be allowed in.

Fulham v Chelsea (9.00 am ET) - Unfortunately, John Terry couldn't make this match as an emergency meeting of the Gritty Gutty Short White Men's Club has been called in St. Louis to discuss David Eckstein's continued unemployment and the possible weakening of the mental powers of the organizating. Also, Wes Welker's snow angel penalty and Craig Biggio's upcoming bid for governor of Texas will be considered.

Blackburn v Manchester City (11.15 am ET) - Sam Allardyce and late sleepers should beware what they wish for.

In stark contrast to last year's meeting Barca is sitting atop the league (and six points clear at that) while Real is struggling to crack La Liga's top four. They haven't even played yet and the game has already cost one coach his job. You hate to see a guy get fired for speaking the truth, but hey, Juande Ramos has a new job! Real is plagued by injuries and Barcelona has displayed brilliant form within the league. The match can be seen at 4 pm EST on GolTV.

Other televised matches of interest...

EPL - Middlesbrough vs. Arsenal In Progress on Setanta
Waaaay too fucking early to care.

EPL - Manchester City vs. Everton at 10 am on FSC
Hey, Buffon will leave Italy to take over the Citizen's net, and it will only cost them £250k a week! Of course that's on top of the £20 million they'll have to fork over to Juventus for the potential transfer. Serious Arab Money.

EPL - Liverpool vs. Hull City at 10 am on Setanta
The Scousers have a scant one point cushion over Chelsea at the top of the Premier League and this morning they're up against Tigers side that is without a loss in their last four matches. Torres remains out with a bad hamstring, but everybody else is back in the lineup for Liverpool.

Bundesliga - VFB Stuttgart vs. Bayern Munich at 11:30 am on GolTV
Munich can work their way back into first place over Hoffenheim with a win this afternoon.

EPL - Tottenham vs. Manchester United at 12:30 on FSC
The Red Devils head into White Hart Lane to face a rapidly improving Spurs side, and they will likely be without several key players. Rooney and Evra will serve suspensions while Rio Ferdinand and Dimitar Berbatov are both likely out with injuries. Ronaldo's also a bit banged up (pussy), but he's a bit more likely to play. Manchester might just need another four goal performance from Tevez to win this week.

La Liga - Valencia vs. Espanyol at 2 pm on GolTV
Watching David Villa and his Valencia side is a pretty good warmup for the big tilt later in the afternoon.

Enjoy the games, and follow along with the fun in the comment section.

Match of the Day

Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid at 4 pm EST on GolTV
Even if you don't follow La Liga you should probably try to catch this one. Atlético won't challenge for the title like their hosts at Camp Nou, but Sergio Aguero alone makes their attack dynamic. Opposing him is Aguero's fellow Argentina national, Leo Messi, quite possibly the most entertaining player in the world.

Premier League Match of the Day

Manchester United vs. Blackburn at 12:30 pm on Fox Soccer Channel
Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney began to find their attacking rhythm until the latter was taken off with an ankle injury in Manchester's mid-week win over Aalborg in the Champions League. In all likelihood the Red Devils will have to go on without Rooney today against Blackburn, who will be without their goalie Paul Robinson. Blackburn's Paul Ince is making his managerial debut against his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Other Matches of Interest

Arsenal vs. Sunderland at 10 am EST on Setanta
The Gunners picked up the easy mid-week win they needed over Porto in the wake of last weekend's disaster against Hull City. They look to carry that momentum through against a banged up Sunderland side.

Fulham vs. West Brom at 10 am EST on Fox Soccer Channel
Fulham has one sick striker and one suspended striker, so they damn well better find some time out there for Clint Dempsey.

Werder Bremen vs. VFB Stuttgart at 11:30 am EST on GolTV
The last time these two sides met in Stuttgart they combined for nine goals, six of which were scored by the home side. Bremen is coming off of a mid-week draw in the Champions League against Inter, with Stuttgart tying Cherno More Varna in UEFA Cup play.

Villarreal vs. Real Betis at 2pm EST on GolTV
Hey, I think I just saw Jozy!

Things could have been quite a bit worse for Manchester, who lost keeper Edwin van der Sar in the first half when he came out to challenge Florent Malouda. Although the Frenchman clearly beat the keeper to the ball there was no penalty called on the play. Chelsea had plenty of other chances to pull out a victory, but Anelka and Joe Cole seemed determined to botch every chance that came their way.

Chelsea played without Deco and Carvalho because of injuries during warm-ups and Tevez never entered the match for Manchester, despite being available on the bench. Both Drogba and Ronaldo entered as substitutes in the second half.

As for the other Manchester side... New-look Man City put a crushing on poor Pompey to the tune of 6-0. Ever the democratic side, each of City's goals came from a different member of the squad. This included strikes from the Brazilians Robinho and Jo, as well as native son SWP.

Don't sleep on Hull. Because Everton certainly did, and they remain a point behind Hull City on the Premier League table. The newly promoted club managed a 2-2 draw against the Toffees. Phil Neville had an own goal in the tie.

The evil fuckers. AKA Manchester United come into the game off of a mid-week scoreless draw against Valencia in the Champions League and they are in need of a win to keep from falling too far back on the Premier League table. Just as United has begun to incorporate Dimitar Berbatov into their attack they've gotten Cristiano Ronaldo back from injury. The world's most decorated player will be making his season debut in the Premier League in an attack that also features Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, and the aforementioned Bulgarian headband enthusiast.

The glorious saviors (that everybody hates just as much as Man U). With a win Chelsea can vault back to the top of the league table and avenge their double loss to Manchester last season. They come in to this home match having scored seven goals in their previous two matches against Bordeaux and Manchester City, and Didier Drogba is ready to rejoin the regular lineup. The dominating striker should benefit greatly from Big Phil Scolari's new system, and his Portuguese imports Deco and Bosingwa. Both players have shown the ability to feed the ball into the striker's position, especially the impressive the fullback whose services have already created numerous scoring chances out of thin air this season.

Now sit back and enjoy what should be a fantastic morning of soccer between England's top two clubs. But stick to lighter beverages for now, there's still plenty of American football to come. Marcel will be back with you at the regularly scheduled time so don't forget to send your tips to marcelmutoni@gmail.com.

The Italian struck in the seventh minute with another coming a half-hour later. Matthew Etherington added a third goal for the Hammers in the second half before Michael Owen earned back a bit of respectability for Newcastle with his otherwise meaningless 66th minute strike. The Hammers now have nine points on the season, firmly entrenching them in the top half of the table for at least a couple more weeks.

• The spoilers from Stoke City. What the hell is wrong with Liverpool? I opted to watch the golf instead of this match, and I'm quite satisfied with that decision. Liverpool and Stoke City played to a scoreless draw thanks to the apparently impenetrable Stoke City back line and keeper Thomas Sorensen. An early would-be goal from Steven Gerrard was disallowed when Dirk Kuyt was determined to be offside by the linesman. Liverpool had their chance to put some distance between themselves and Chelsea before tomorrow's big match, but instead they were forced to settle for the disappointing draw.

• In progress... Arsenal is leading Bolton by a score of 2-1 after falling behind by an early goal from Nolan. The Gunners got back to level on a 26th minute strike from Eboue before Bendtner put them up just moments later. They're still hanging on by that same score with twenty minutes left to play at Reebok Stadium.

Anelka was second on the score sheet when he rushed the goalie's line to power in a header off of Deco's deft cross.

Lampard scored the third goal of the half on a penalty following an unlucky hand ball on Portsmouth. Fittingly, it was Deco who added the final dagger when James was unable to deny his blast from distance in the second half. The newly acquired midfielder was one of two Portuguese players to make stellar debuts for Scolari. The other was right back Jose Bosingwa, he of the children's size medium jersey.

Ballack went out with an injury late in the first half and was replaced by Malouda, while Drogba and Essien watched in street clothes. As for Peter Crouch's Portsmouth debut? He touched the ball a couple of times.

• That could have gone better. Newcastle provided the stunner of the weekend, earning a 1-1 draw against the defending English and European champions at Old Trafford. Obafemi Martins hung in the air to put home a corner with his head to give the Magpies a stunning first half lead, but the Reds answered moments later when a Giggs cross was put home by new Darren Fletcher. However that was the end of the scoring for the day, despite good efforts on either side. Manchester was playing without the injured Ronaldo, and Tevez, who is in Argentina on bereavement leave.

Jonas Gutierrez impressed Newcastle fans with a fantastic debut in the Premier League, and goalie Shay Given was equally impressive in net. Manchester tightened the screws late in the contest, but they were never able to get one past the keeper. Their last chance came when Rooney lined up a kick following foul just outside the box in stoppage time, only to see it fly past the post.

• Agbonlahor! Aston Villa put their unsettling offseason behind them with a dominating 4-2 performance over Manchester City at Villa Park. Gabriel Agbonlahor netted a hat trick for the Villains, scoring all three goals in a spectacular stretch of just under eight minutes. The other goal came off the head of Carew via a cross from Ashley Young.

Elano beat Villa's familiar new keeper Brad Friedel from the spot for one of City's goals, the other came from Corluka in the game's waning minutes. The game is airing on tape delay on Fox Soccer Channel if you want to see some scoring.

• Hull City FTW! Hull City made their debut in the top flight of English football in style with a 2-1 come from behind victory over a Fulham side that narrowly remained in the Premier League this season. It was a dream come true for the tiger striped supporters at KC Stadium who saw Caleb Folan come on in a tie game after the half to put the home side ahead for the historic win.

• What the hell, Spurs? By most indications Tottenham Hotspur appeared poised to reclaim a spot in the top eight of English football after last season's disappointments, yet they've gotten off to another unfortunate start. While it's just a single match in a long season, a road loss to Middlesbrough is obviously not Juande Ramos had envisioned. Berbatov remained on the bench while awaiting his seemingly eminent transfer, leaving Darren Bent and the newly acquired stud Giovani Dos Santos to start up front for the Spurs. Wheater scored the first goal for Boro before former Spur Mido delivered the dagger in the game's waning minutes. Huth scored in injury time to make things look a bit better, but the Boro got the three points with a 2-1 win.

• Ince's debut went well. The match of the day went down between Everton and their guests, the Blackburn Rovers led by new manager Paul Ince. The former star of Manchester United and Liverpool had to have liked what he saw from his club during their dramatic 3-2 victory. David Dunn started the scoring early before Mikel Arteta equalized for Everton before the end of the half. The Blues went ahead behind Yakubu's goal in the second half, only to watch Roque Santa Cruz answer back a minute later. Andre Ooijer played the role of hero with his 90th minute goal that ensured victory for Ince's Rovers.

• Ah, fuck! I was all ready to put this post to bed when Liverpool had to go and ruin a perfectly good draw. Fernando Torres put the Reds ahead in the game's final ten minutes after 80 minutes of scoreless football at Sunderland's Stadium of Light. Bollocks!

The 24 year-old Brazilian star has made it quite clear that he wants nothing more to do with Los Merengues, a club that he and his representatives believe to be holding him back from achieving true greatness. Real quickly rebuffed Chelsea's initial offer, reported to be in the neighborhood of €25 million, but that hardly indicates that a potential deal is dead.

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari wants to add Robinho to an existing stable of Portuguese speakers at his club, including defenders Ricardo Carvalho and Alex, as well as the newly acquired duo of José Bosingwa and Deco. Fortunately the new manager works for Roman Abramovich, who is more than willing to go after the high-priced targets his team desires. I'm expecting the deal to get done, but it's likely going to cost another 10 million. In the meantime, I'll be sitting here squealing like a school girl in anticipation.

• Manchester United Of course Chelsea aren't the only side looking to make moves as the season gets underway. Sir Alex has been eying a goal scorer out of La Liga of his own in David Silva, but it looks as if the Red Devils may lose out to Barcelona for the services of Valencia's attacking midfielder. Of course even if Manchester can't sign the Spaniard, they feel they can lock up Dimitar Berbatov, the much sought after striker who is looking to exit White Hart Lane.

• Arsenal Arsene Wenger knows his side will need a bit more firepower in the coming season, and one player he's targeted is Sebastian Giovinco, the 21 year-old pride of the Juventus youth system. While Arsenal is prepared to offer €7.5 million, don't expect Juve to just hand over their brightest young star. If you get a chance to watch some of Italy's Olympic soccer campaign keep an eye out for young Seba. He already has one goal following their first match against Honduras.