The sixth week of the Barclay’s Premier League season is highlighted by two of the biggest derbies in English football history. For my American readers, a derby (pronounced “darby”) is the Premier Leaguespeak for rivalry game. The North London Derby features unbeaten Arsenal, with new forward Danny Welbeck, against rivals Tottenham at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and mun2.
Of course Tottenham is struggling right now. Under three different managers, they have played essentially the same: just mediocre enough to qualify for Europa League, but not nearly good enough to reach the Champions League.
Arsenal has their own issues as well. The injury to Matthew Debuchy really hurts and Mesut Ozil has been just ripped apart by the media lately; and deservedly so. There is a crisis in the back line right now.
Here’s the Merseyside Derby TV info.
NBC Sports Group’s Premier League lead play-by-play announcer Arlo White calls Arsenal v. Tottenham, joined by Lee Dixon at the Emirates. Match coverage begins with Premier League Live at 7 a.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN.
A new Premier League Download airs Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, with a look at Saturday’s Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton, and North London Derby between Tottenham and Arsenal. The show highlights the origins and special characteristics of these matches between local rivals and includes exclusive interviews with current and former players, managers, and pundits on the intensity that exists in these matches
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partners with Fox Sports and Yahoo. Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN