At Season Midpoint Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino & Robbie Mustoe Discuss First Half & What’s To Come
Stamford, Conn. – January 6, 2013 – NBC Sports Group continues Premier League coverage with the first weekend action of 2014 beginning this Saturday. With 20 match weeks completed, Liverpool forward Luis Suarez scored 20 goals (in only 15 games for him) and added five assists and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has kept eight clean sheets, made 51 saves and scored one goal thus far this season. Coverage this weekend is highlighted by Manchester United v. Swansea City on NBC on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET. The NBCSN 10 a.m. ET slot on Saturday will feature Tottenham Hotspur v. Crystal Palace.
Additional matches in the 10 a.m. ET slot on Saturday will be available on Premier League Extra Time, a bonus television package available to MVPDs at no extra cost for customers who receive NBCSN. The interactive Premier League Game Finder can be accessed at http://www.nbcsports.com/ExtraTime.
mun2 will telecast three matches in Spanish this week (listed in table below).
Halfway through the 2013-14 Premier League season – each club has played 20 matches and has 18 remaining – Premier League Live’s Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, Kyle Martino and Robbie Mustoe offer some midseason musings:
From what we have seen on the pitch thus far, I’m most impressed by __________.
Lowe: “…the players taking their chances and breaking through on the big stage. Oussama Assaidi was surplus to requirements at Liverpool and is scoring fabulous goals for Stoke. Romelu Lukaku wasn’t wanted at Chelsea and perhaps Jose Mourinho is now regretting letting him go on loan to Everton and the teenagers coming through at Southampton easing onto the biggest stage of all. The players have been highly impressive all round in talent and mentality from them all in different ways.”
Earle: “…the development of Arsenal football Club in 2013. During a Premier League Live show before a ball was kicked this season, I suggested the Gunners lacked the necessary strength down the spine of the team to win a title. A first day 3-1 home defeat to Aston Villa only served to back up my point. Since then, the team have been outstanding have and played some wonderful football showing some of the resilience required of title contenders. There has been a remarkable improvement in players like Wojciech Szczesny, Per Mertesacker, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud. Additionally the signing of one high profile player Mesut Ozil, seemed to give the collective squad a self confidence they had lacked in the past. Arsenal will have to keep answering the questions posed by the critics, who doubt their ability to stay at the top but they have shown me this season, they are a serious player in this season’s title race.”
Martino: “… Manchester City’s attack. They have a record amount of goals for this stage in the season and there are no signs of it letting up.”
Mustoe: “… We knew Luis Suarez was a good player but his form after returning from suspension has been stunning. Many goals more than anyone else to this point has been spectacular just like the goals he’s scored. The variety of goals scored also confirms what he is, the complete modern day striker.”
What most intrigues me about the season’s second half is _________.
Lowe: “…whether a 44-year old with no management experience and no formal qualifications can take Tottenham into Europe. If he does, Tim Sherwood is set for life.”
Earle: “…Manchester United’s attempts to become ‘relevant’ in the title race and their subsequent battle to gain a Champions league spot. Sitting 11 points behind the leaders and five points adrift of the coveted fourth spot, David Moyes is going to need to finish the second half of the season ‘Sir Alex Ferguson-style’ when United usually play some of their best football and come into their own.
“It would be almost unthinkable for the reigning Champions not to qualify for Champions League football through their league placing and, at some point this year, they may have to put all their efforts into winning the European competition, to ensure their participation in it again next year.”
Martino: “… Arsenal. After nearly a decade since they last won the Premier League title no one, not even some of their fans, thinks they have what it takes to stay the course and lift the trophy. I do.”
Mustoe: “… Whether Arsenal can continue at the top of the Premier League is fascinating. The team has quality, skill and ability, we knew that, it’s the stamina and mental toughness required to stay on top through different challenges each week that we need to see. They’ve been in great league positions in the past only to fall away when the pressure mounts. In the coming weeks the character of this team will be questioned and I can’t wait for the answer.”
Lead play-by-play voice Arlo White joins former Premier League star and four-time league champion Lee Dixon to call Manchester United v, Swansea City on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC. White joins Graeme Le Saux, the former Premier League star who played in 36 international matches for England, to call Newcastle United v. Manchester City on Sunday at 9:05 a.m. ET on NBCSN.
All matches will be preceded and followed by Premier League Live pre- and post-match shows from the NBC Sports Group International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn. Rebecca Lowe hosts Premier League Live alongside former English footballer Robbie Mustoe and former U.S. Men’s National midfielder Kyle Martino.
All Premier League games will be streamed on NBC Sports Live Extra, NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices and tablets. Games airing on NBC Sports Network will be live streamed via “TV Everywhere,” the media industry’s effort to make quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.
To date, AT&T U-verse®, Bright House Networks, Cablevision’s Optimum, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Cox, DIRECTV, Mediacom, Suddenlink, and Time Warner Cable have opted to carry the additional Premier League matches via the Premier League Extra Time package, and AT&T U-verse, Cablevision’s Optimum, Charter, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Cox, DIRECTV, DISH, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS will make all Premier League games available through TV Everywhere. Additionally, over 100 NCTC partners have either signed-on to the Premier League Extra Time package or have opted-in via TV Everywhere, including Blue Ridge Communications, Buckeye CableSystem, CenturyLink Prism, and RCN. In some cases, the Premier League Extra Time package will be available in select markets.
Below is the NBC Sports Group schedule for the 21st week of the Premier League season (all times ET, subject to change):
| Date | Time | Home v. Away | Network |
| Fri., Jan. 10 | 7 a.m. | Barclays Premier League News | NBCSN |
| Fri., Jan. 10 | 7:30 a.m. | Barclays Premier League World | NBCSN |
| Fri., Jan. 10 | 8 a.m. | Barclays Premier League Match Pack | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 6:30 a.m. | Barclays Premier League Preview | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 7 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 7:45 a.m. | Hull City v. Chelsea | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 9:30 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 10 a.m. | Tottenham Hotspur v. Crystal Palace | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 10 a.m. | Everton v. Norwich | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 10 a.m. | Southampton v. West Bromwich Albion | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 10 a.m. | Fulham v. Sunderland | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 10 a.m. | Cardiff City v. West Ham United | Extra Time |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | Noon | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 12:30 p.m. | Manchester United v. Swansea City | NBC, mun2 |
| Sat., Jan. 11 | 11 p.m. | NBCSN’s Match of the Day | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 12 | 8:30 a.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Sun., Jan. 12 | 9 a.m. | Newcastle United v. Manchester City | NBCSN, mun2 |
| Sun., Jan. 12 | 11 a.m. | Liverpool v. Stoke City | NBCSN, mun2 |
| Sun., Jan. 12 | 11 p.m. | NBCSN’s Match of the Day II | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 13 | 2 p.m. | Premier League Live | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 13 | 3 p.m. | Aston Villa v. Arsenal | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 13 | 5 p.m. | Goal Zone | NBCSN |
| Mon., Jan. 13 | 11 p.m. | Barclays Premier League Review | NBCSN |
| Tues., Jan. 14 | 12 a.m. | Premier League Encore: Manchester Monday | NBCSN |
NBC Sports Group presents the most ambitious, extensive and comprehensive coverage of the Premier League available anywhere in the world with all 380 Premier League matches available live in the United States on the networks of NBCUniversal, on the Premier League Extra Time bonus TV package, and streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra. In total, NBC Sports Group will present more than 1,600 hours of Premier League programming.
–NBC Sports Group--
